Associated Facilities Review Workshop

Written by: Emily Quinn

Participants of the Associated Facilities Review WorkshopThe three day, Associated Facilities Review (AFR) Workshop took place in Sacramento, California, April third through fifth. The training was aimed at helping Reclamation engineers and inspectors learn how to inspect and review associated facilities. Associated facilities include low-hazard dams, bridges, roads, pumping plants, canals, buildings, mechanical equipment, levees and fish passage facilities.

Approximately 70 participants attended the training, including people from all five Reclamation regions. The training includes two days of classroom training and one day of field review at Nimbus Dam which consists of practicing the skills learned during their time in the classroom.

During the field review, participants utilize the skills gained during the classroom portion of the training. They were provided with an opportunity to inspect the Nimbus Dam spillway bridges, the spillway gates, the fish hatchery and Folsom South Canal, and to put their new knowledge into practice.

The AFR Workshop is very beneficial for Reclamation’s new engineers and inspectors. It provides employees with the tools necessary to implement consistency from region to region, and ensures that employees’ inspection and review methodologies are aligned with best practices and procedures.

Three main topics were identified and explored throughout this training, and include educating participants about updated Program and Policy information, providing detailed information about inspection requirements for each type of facility, and reviewing case studies to showcase how complex issues have been addressed at various facilities throughout the past.

The goal was for participants to leave with new and improved tools to utilize during inspections, and for participants to be equipped with practical knowledge about how to inspect all of Reclamation’s various associated facilities so that inspections are conducted using the specific guidelines for each type of facility.

A portion of the classroom study included an overview of dam safety.

Published on April 11, 2018