Hello - August 2005

Dear Colleagues,
I'm pleased to inform you about the establishment of a non-profit Organization in Turkey. The Dam Safety Association (DSA) is the first private organization dedicated to the improvement of dam safety. DSA was founded in 2004 by some academicians and young dam engineers to serve as the premier organization for individuals committed to ensuring the safety of dams in Turkey.

Turkey is located at the region having very complex geology and also very active seismicity. It lies between Eurasia plate and Arabian shield and extends to west approximately 3-5 cm per year along the structural discontinuities. There are so many large dams, which are under the effect Of near-source zones in Turkey. The large reservoirs, Which were constructed near urbanized area, have a potential risk for downstream life and properties.

One of the main goals of the DSA is to cancel or minimize the total risk based on seismic hazard rating Of dam site and the risk rating Of the completed structure, to provide opportunity for the dam safety community, to share important information and to transfer new technology about dam structures.

We are eager to provide scientific support to our state organizations which are responsible for planning, designing and construction of dams in Turkey. We also invite the directors to support us for searching in dam structures, especially in failure mechanism of earth dams.

Finally, we want to be a professional organization of Turkey as the Association Of State Dam Safety Officials in USA and Canadian Dam Association in Canada. DSA is one of the organizations, which are responsible to prepare a National Dam Safety program in Turkey.

Our thanks are due to those who have contributed.

With best regards.
Prof. Dr. Hasan TOSUN 
President