LATEST NEWS
Entura specialists share dam safety expertise in MYCOLD webinar
21 May, 2026
Entura specialists have shared leading dam safety expertise with an international audience in a webinar hosted by the Malaysian Committee on Large Dams (MYCOLD).
More than 50 people attended the webinar, including participants from Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Australia.
Three of Entura’s most esteemed dam safety specialists – Richard Herweynen (Technical Director Water), Paul Southcott (Senior Principal Hydropower and Headworks) and Dr Shao Ng (Principal Civil Engineer) – presented during the session.
Together, their presentations outlined a practical, risk-based approach to dam safety – from overarching frameworks through to detailed practical application.
Richard Herweynen provided an overview of Hydro Tasmania’s risk-based systems approach to dam safety management across its extensive portfolio of 54 large dams and 184 small dams and weirs. Both Richard and Paul were part of the pilot and roll-out of this program across the Hydro Tasmania portfolio.
Paul Southcott’s presentation delved deeper into the dam portfolio risk assessment approach, including the importance of identifying and screening potential failure modes, engaging with local operators, and drawing on the insights of experienced dams engineers.
Finally, Dr Shao Ng discussed the advantages of using staged upgrades to reduce dam risks to acceptable levels. He presented two case studies of Entura projects where dams have undergone staged upgrades to incrementally reduce risks to ‘as low as reasonably practicable’ (ALARP).
The first dam was one of Australia’s oldest – constructed in 1888 – which was upgraded in two stages to address piping and overtopping risks. The second dam had a first-stage ‘quick win’ to reduce piping risk, followed by a crest raise to increase flood capacity.
The webinar continued Entura’s long-standing commitment to sharing knowledge and experience to build dam safety capacity across the Indo-Pacific region.
Entura’s training arm, the Entura clean energy and water institute (ECEWI), previously provided significant input into Malaysia’s Certified Dam Safety Inspector program. This is growing into a sustained and locally led pathway.
“Strengthening dam safety ultimately depends on skilled people and strong institutions, making investment in training and knowledge-sharing an investment in long-term sustainability of dam safety governance – and ultimately greater national resilience,” said Dr Amanda Ashworth, Entura’s Director Strategy Sales and Commercial and founder of ECEWI.
“Entura is grateful to MYCOLD for the invitation to present this webinar,” said Dr Ashworth, “and we hope to continue to work with MYCOLD to contribute our specialist expertise to dam safety risk decision-making and dam safety engineering.”
The webinar was recorded and will be made available via MYCOLD’s website.
+61 429 705 127