Uplift from Stagnation Pressure and Seepage Through Joints in Concrete Spillway Slabs: Instructors
Tony L. Wahl
Wahl Hydraulics LLC
Research Hydraulic Engineer
Tony Wahl has over 35 years of experience in the analysis, design, and physical modeling of hydraulic structures, including dams, spillways, fish facilities, and water delivery and measurement systems. He worked at the Bureau of Reclamation hydraulics laboratory from 1990 to 2025. Since retiring from Reclamation, Tony has continued doing consulting work in the U.S. and overseas. Tony has deep expertise in spillway hydraulics, outlet works, and high-velocity flow behavior.
Tony’s work has advanced understanding of cavitation, aeration, hydraulic jacking, and flow through joints and cracks in concrete spillways. He has led the development of widely used hydraulic software tools, including SpillwayPro, WinFlume, and WinADV, and is a prolific author of technical publications in leading international journals. Tony is an active reviewer of articles for major journals and international conferences and serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering and the Journal of Hydraulic Research. He is the recipient of the 2019 ASCE Hydraulic Structures Medal and the 2025 Terry L. Hampton Medal from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials for outstanding contributions to dam-related hydraulic engineering research and practice. Tony is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (Environmental and Water Resources Institute), the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, and the U.S. Society on Dams.
Bryan J. Heiner
Barr Engineering
Senior Civil/Hydraulic Engineer
Bryan J. Heiner is a senior civil/hydraulic engineer with Barr Engineering and has more than 15 years of experience in hydraulic engineering, applied research, and project delivery. His background includes leadership and technical roles with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Utah Water Research Laboratory, and private consulting, giving him a broad perspective on both research-driven analysis and practical design implementation.
Bryan specializes in hydraulic analysis and design for dams, spillways, outlet works, canals, tunnels, stormwater systems, and fish passage facilities. He is also experienced in flow measurement for open channels and closed conduits, instrumentation, canal automation, and advanced hydraulic measurements using industry-leading technologies, as well as scour, erosion, and overtopping evaluations.
Over the course of his career, Bryan has designed, built, and tested more than 250 physical and numerical hydraulic models, developed hundreds of computational fluid dynamics models, and supported more than 50 fish passage and protection projects. He has managed multidisciplinary efforts from feasibility through final design and construction, with experience spanning new dam and spillway design, dam safety modifications, modernization of aging infrastructure, multi-species fish passage facilities, sediment management, erosion control, and canal operation and automation.
