Developing countries such as China, Iran and Turkey are being at the heart of dam construction and hydropower development in the world. Many challenging problems, arising in the dam construction, are well solved, while the summary and integration of those pathbreaking technologies is lagging. On the other hand, many early built dams in the world have been operated for years, some over 50 years or even 100 years, and hence some problems like aging and cracks begin to appear, which urgently need to be solved. To provide a platform for engineers and scientists to present and exchange their successful experiences in dam construction, management and rehabilitation, Chinese National Committee on Large Dams (CHINCOLD) and other relevant organizations would like to sponsor an International Symposium on Modern Technologies and Long-term Behavior of Dams to be held in Zhengzhou, China during September 27-29, 2011.

The symposium will be a combined event of the 7^th East Asian Dam Conference (EADC) and the 3^rd International Conference on Long Term Behavior of Dams (LTBD). The EADC is a regional conference jointly sponsored by CHINCOLD, Japan Commission on Large Dams (JCOLD), and Korean National Committee on Large Dams (KNCOLD), which aims to promote the technical exchange and cooperation among East Asian countries in the field of dam technology. Since the 1^st EADC in Xi’an China in 2004, it has been successfully held for 6 times by turns in China, Japan, and Korea. The LTBD conference is an international conference jointly sponsored by Chinese and Austrian universities, which aims to provide the opportunity for professionals to exchange their experiences and the latest developments related to the design, performance and rehabilitation of earth, rockfill and concrete dams. Up to now, it has been held for 2 times. The combination of the 7^th EADC and the 3^rd LTBD conference as “International Symposium on Modern Technologies and Long-term Behavior of Dams” will enrich the contents of symposium and enlarge the scale of participants.

It is great honor for the Organizing Committee to invite you to participate in the symposium, which will provide a forum for sharing of experiences by engineers, development planners, managers, manufacturers, environmentalists, consultants, academicians, users and others. We sincerely hope that this symposium will contribute significantly to promoting the worldwide spread of successful experiences in dam construction, management and rehabilitation.

        We are looking forward to welcoming you in Zhengzhou China in September 2011.