The 17th ICOLD Benchmark workshop was held in Sofia from April 9 to 12, 2025, an event of significant importance for the leading experts in numerical modeling in the field of dam engineering. organized by the Technical Committee A (TC-A) “computational aspects of analysis and design of dams” and the Bulgarian National Committee on Large Dams (BUNCOLD), the benchmarking workshop provided a valuable opportunity for exchange and discussion among the international community in this sector.

Contributors presented high-quality solutions to address the three proposed themes, contributing with their technical results to the success of the event:

• Theme A – three-dimensional seismic analysis of Tsankov Kamak dam (double curvature concrete arch dam)
• Theme B – First Impoundment of Plovdivtsi Asphalt-Concrete Core Rockfill Dam
• Theme C – Calibration and prediction of the rockfill behavior of a 210m Concrete-Face Rockfill Dam

The new leadership, consisting of Antonella Frigerio, Deputy Director of RSE’s Sustainable Development and Energy Sources Department as the Chair, Russell Micheal Gunn from SFOE and Gerald Zenz from TUGRAZ as Co-chair, extends heartfelt thanks to BUNCOLD, the theme formulators, and all participants for their commitment, passion, and enthusiasm. They emphasize the importance of international collaboration in numerical modeling applied to dam engineering.