The second regional meeting under the Regional Program for Investigation and Strengthening of Vulnerable Flood Protection Dikes in South and Southeast Asian countries (REG-PRO-DIKES) was held on 11 - 13 November 2013 at the Irrigation Technology Center in Bago, Myanmar. The program is jointly implemented by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) with funding from the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Attended by 32 representatives from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, the workshop focused on the problems associated with the investigation of weaker areas of dikes as a routine maintenance process, and the procedures for undertaking rehabilitation interventions in the detected areas.

Chief Minister of Bago Region Hon. Nyan Win stated that Myanmar has recently had a reasonable level of increase in flood events and losses that have been reported in delta areas of major rivers such as Irrawaddy, Salween, and Sittang. The delta areas are protected by a large number of dikes, and some of the high impacts reported are due to failure of the dike system. Chief Minister Win thanked the organizers for organizing the regional event in Myanmar to discuss the ways of improving flood risk management in particular by strengthening the dike systems.

In his keynote speech, Dr. Tint Zaw, Deputy Director General of the Irrigation Department of Myanmar noted there are many problems associated with the maintenance of flood protection dike systems. Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam face similar challenges in detecting the weak areas in the systems.

"These dikes have been constructed long ago and therefore it is important to effectively identify the most vulnerable parts of the dike system that might collapse during extreme conditions", Dr. Zaw said.

Dr. Oddvar Kjekstad from Norwegian Geotechnical Institute stated that the program provides an opportunity for learning from each other and from the current practices used by partner countries, as well as finding the best solutions with the help of representatives from the countries that have been successful in tackling similar problems.

During a field trip to the Sittwe River delta area, the experts from Norwegian Geotechnical Institute demonstrated the use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Technology for identifying weak spots in the dikes and other water protection structures. The participants of the meeting were introduced to ways of locating anomalous areas in the dike systems that may perform badly under extreme weather conditions in the future.

National-level experts on a field demonstration at Irrawaddy Delta area

The regional meeting was followed by a national-level workshop on 14 - 15 November at the Irrawaddy delta area. Organized jointly by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, the workshop was attended by around thirty participants from various national-level institutions.

The workshop conducted field demonstrations at the Irrawaddy delta area, and some of the areas with anomalies detected by the Norwegian experts during the field demonstrations will be further investigated by the Irrigation Department to verify the causative factors. The project will also explore the possibility of extending further assistance to the Irrigation Department in conducting investigations in the problematic areas.