2019 USSD Conference and Exhibition

WSP hydropower engineer, Seth Krause, will moderate breakout sessions and John Osterle, senior water resources project manager, will co-present at the conference.

Santee Cooper Upstream Slope Protection Project – An Owner’s Perspective
Tuesday, April 9, 1:30 - 3:30 PM
2C: Conference Theme 1
Room: Salon A1
Presenters: John Osterle, WSP and Denise Bunte-Bisnett, Santee Cooper

The Santee Cooper Hydroelectric Project, completed in 1942, is located approximately 32 miles inland from Charleston, SC and includes two lakes formed by 40 miles of dams and dikes. The original porous concrete upstream slope protection was experimental and began to fail shortly after installation. Additionally, the protection system has sustained significant damage during substantial wind events. Santee Cooper initiated a comprehensive study, which led to upgrades on 15.75 miles of dams and dikes, consisting of thickening approximately 438,000 tons of rip-rap layer with stone and constructing an underwater, upstream rock berm. Work involved performing a detailed study of meteorological events and a probabilistic wind and wave analysis, conducting a thorough inventory of the existing slope protection system, developing design alternatives, and performing physical modeling to develop a cost-effective design. This presentation provides the Owners perspective on developing and constructing innovative and resilient infrastructure.


Concurrent Sessions Track 3
Wednesday, April 10, 10:45 AM – 12:15 PM
3E: Conference Theme II
Room: Salon A5
Moderators: Seth Krause, WSP and Andrew Verity, Terracon Consultants

Seth Krause will moderate the sessions under this breakout track:

― 3D Ground Modelling for a Dyke Reconstruction Project (HaLiMa) in North Rhine- Westphalia, Germany
― Improving Engineering Judgement Using 3-Dimensional Data Management Techniques
― Using Technology and Old-Fashioned Detective Work to Predict Low-Level Outlet Tunnel Performance Under Catastrophic Loading
― Automated Crack Width Calculation