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An Insider’s Look at the Bureau of Reclamation’s Dam Safety Program
Bartlett Dam, northeast of Phoenix, Arizona, was built between 1936 and 1939 and was modified by Reclamation between 1994 and 1996 to address safety concerns.
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Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your backgrounds and how you came to be in your current positions. Karen Knight: Thank you for highlighting how Reclamation is maintaining its dams in a safe and reliable manner that protects the health and safety of the public and Reclamation employees. I’m originally from the Midwest. Prior to coming
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to Reclamation, I worked in private civil engineering. I worked on a lot of federal dams on various aspects of dam safety, so I’ve been working in dam safety for over 30 years. When I joined Reclamation in 2000, I was a design engineer in the Technical Service Center (TSC). After that, I advanced through management, becoming the division chief for the geotechnical services division in the TSC. Then I became the division chief for the dam safety office. Since then, I have moved into a senior leadership position with Reclamation and am the director for dam safety and infrastructure. Bob Pike: Thanks for showcasing how Reclamation is proactively maintaining our nation’s critical infrastructure. I graduated from Montana State University in 1982. My focus in college was on hydraulics and hydrology, so I had an interest in water infrastructure. My first job was in central Wyoming on what was known as a rehab and betterment project for the Midvale Irrigation District. I did a lot of design work, surveying, drilling, construction, and inspection. After about 2 years, at which point that job was winding hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.
he Bureau of Reclamation is internationally recognized as a leader in dam safety. The 1978 Reclamation Safety of Dams Act established an independent dam safety program within Reclamation. This program covers routine dam inspections and evaluations as well as corrective work and repairs and has become the global standard in the dam safety field. In this interview, Karen Knight, Reclamation’s director for dam safety and infrastructure; Bob Pike, the chief of Reclamation’s dam safety program; and Brian Becker, a senior advisor and the design, estimating, and construction oversight and dam safety officer at Reclamation, tell Hydro Leader about Reclamation’s impressive and comprehensive dam safety activities.
