Committee to computational aspects of dam analysis and design Guido Mazzà*, Alain Carrère** 5th International Conference on Dam Engineering Lisbona, 14-16 Febbraio 2007 * CESI RICERCA ** COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN-COJNE ET BELLIER, GENNEVILLIERS The Committee on Computational Aspects of Analysis and Design of Dams (Dams & Computations in the next future) was appointed by ICOLD, the International Commission on Large Dams, as an ad hoc Committee at the end of the ’80 and reappointed in 2005 as a permanent one with the aim to contribute to the diffusion of computer software in the field of dam engineering and to fill the gap existing between the specialists of mathematical modelling and designers, planners, and managers of dams. In the course of the last decade or so this gap has been reduced thanks to the ever greater realization of the potential of numerical models, to the large diffusion of computers, and to the organization of workshops and conferences in which both cultures are involved. The work done by the Committee during its long activity has given rise to the issuing of two technical Bulletins (a third one is in progress) and to the organization of Benchmark- Workshops, with the aim to guide dam engineers to make a correct use of software in the field of dam analysis and design. To date eight Benchmark-Workshops have been organized, which topics where related to concrete as well as embankment dams. The 9th Benchmark-Workshop has been scheduled for June 2007 in St. Petersburg (Russia). Keywords: dams, numerical analysis, benchmark, computer software