The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://www.rt.com/usa/377147-oroville-dam-collapse-evacuation/

[mountaineer]

Now they're calling for evacuation.

[skeeter]

It's be interesting to see how the spillage and debris will affect the dams lower down on the river.

I would be more concerned how it will effect 16k-odd people living in Oroville.

[dfwgator]

The media is already trying to figure out how to blame Trump.

[skeeter]

In case you missed it:

I didn't.

[Wingnut]

I wonder how many sand bags you would need to stop a 700' tall wall of water traveling at 100 mph. Any one?

Are you Noah?

[Suppressed]

Live footage...

http://www.kcra.com/article/evacuation-orders-issued-for-low-levels-of-oroville/8735215

Live coverage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwIst1YiMdo

Evacuation info at that page, including

An evacuation shelter has been set up at:

• Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico at 2357 Fair Street
• Colusa County Fairgrounds in Colusa at 1303 10th Street
• Alcouffe Community Center on Marysville Road, Oregon House
• Glenn County Fairgrounds in Orland at 221 E. Yolo Street

A large animal shelter is open at Camelot Equestrian Park, located at 1985 Clark Road.


https://twitter.com/CA_DWR
For evacuation info, Butte County residents can dial 2-1-1 from landline or cell phones. Yuba or Sutter residents can call 1-866-916-3566.


Good news is that it was expected to fail a couple of hours ago, and is still holding at this point.  The erosion has been less than anticipated and is slowing.  The water level in the reservoir is being drawn down, and they're dropping rock from helicopters to slow erosion from water spilling over the earthen spillway.

[Suppressed]

It's not the dam.  The dam is fine.

It's the emergency spillway giving way, and the regular spillway is damaged.

https://twitter.com/CA_DWR


See also http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php?topic=248599.msg1226284


Live coverage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwIst1YiMdo
http://www.kcra.com/nowcast

[Smokin Joe]

With better state management, this could/should have been anticipated.

Money probably diverted to feeding, housing, medicating illegals, instead.

Some people just don't inspect things until they break.

[Smokin Joe]

The spillway is generally operational only in the rainy season, as a crucial flood-control outlet. Routine water deliveries flow through a power plant at the dam.

 http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article132154774.html

I see a good chance that the whole slab will move downhill. 'Cleanup' and repairs are going to be very expensive, far more than just filling in a hole.

[Norm Lenhart]

Are you Noah?

I want you to build...an ark.

"Rightttttt.. Whats an ark?"

I said the other day that when a cali govt tells you a dam is safe to GTFO ASAP.

[Wingnut]

I want you to build...an ark.

"Rightttttt.. Whats an ark?"

Right ... What's a cubit?

[Fishrrman]

What's happening out there right now is only a prelude for this spring, when all that snow up in mountains begins to melt.

An "earthen dam" higher than Hoover Dam?
Something like that could never fail.
Right?      Right....?

[Right_in_Virginia]

Evacuations ordered below Oroville Dam after a hole is found in its emergency spillway
LA Times, Feb 12, 2017, 8:15 pm Local

Tens of thousands of residents in Northern California were ordered to immediately evacuate Sunday afternoon after erosion at the emergency spillway on the Oroville Dam threatened to flood Oroville and nearby towns below.

Officials said late Sunday that they will use bags of rocks to try to plug the hole at the head of the emergency spillway, and also will reduce the water level at Lake Oroville to alleviate stress on the spillway.

They emphasized the situation remains dangerous at the nation’s tallest dam and urged residents in communities along the Feather River to evacuate to higher ground.

The National Weather Service initially said the auxiliary spillway at the Oroville Dam was expected to fail at about 5:45 p.m., which could send an “uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville.”

More: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oroville-update-20170212-story.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

Evacuations ordered below Oroville Dam after a hole is found in its emergency spillway
LA Times, Feb 12, 2017, 8:15 pm Local

Tens of thousands of residents in Northern California were ordered to immediately evacuate Sunday afternoon after erosion at the emergency spillway on the Oroville Dam threatened to flood Oroville and nearby towns below.

Officials said late Sunday that they will use bags of rocks to try to plug the hole at the head of the emergency spillway, and also will reduce the water level at Lake Oroville to alleviate stress on the spillway.

They emphasized the situation remains dangerous at the nation’s tallest dam and urged residents in communities along the Feather River to evacuate to higher ground.

The National Weather Service initially said the auxiliary spillway at the Oroville Dam was expected to fail at about 5:45 p.m., which could send an “uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville.”

More: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oroville-update-20170212-story.html

[jpsb]

The dam is not at risk of failure.  The spillway is a separate structure and the emergency spillway is even farther apart.

Now, however, local ABC News affiliate KRCR reports that state officials warn the emergency spillway could suffer a structural failure. It is not clear whether that would lead to a structural failure of the dam itself,

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/02/12/emergency-evacuations-ordered-oroville-dam-spillway-fails/

[geronl]

Now they're calling for evacuation.

Kind of saw that coming

[geronl]

It's not the dam.  The dam is fine.

It's the emergency spillway giving way, and the regular spillway is damaged.

If that hole gets any deeper, it's going to poke right through to the lake.

[Cripplecreek]

What's happening out there right now is only a prelude for this spring, when all that snow up in mountains begins to melt.

An "earthen dam" higher than Hoover Dam?
Something like that could never fail.
Right?      Right....?

The earthen dam wasn't the problem. Looks like the problem began at te concrete spillway

Compacted earth is probably the most common type of dam there is in the USA. All of the dams around me are earthen dams with a concrete spillway and millrace. The 1 that is 100 yards from where I sit is an earthen dam first built in the 1880s and rebuilt in the 1980s.

[mountaineer]

Live updates at L.A. Times.
Latest:

Feb. 13, 2017, 3:45 a.m.


"This is not a drill. Repeat this is not a drill,” the National Weather Service said Sunday, urging people living below Oroville Dam to evacuate.

More than 100,000 people were told to evacuate because of a “hazardous situation” involving the Northern California dam's emergency spillway. At one point, the NWS warned that the auxiliary spillway was expected to fail and could send an “uncontrolled release of flood waters from Lake Oroville.” However, by late Sunday night, officials said the immediate threat had passed because water had stopped washing over the emergency spillway.

• The  mass evacuations  cap a week of frantic efforts to prevent flooding as the reservoir behind America’s tallest dam reached capacity and its main spillway was severely damaged.
• On Saturday,  water levels rose  so high that an emergency spillway was used for the first time. Officials initially believed the measure worked. But Sunday afternoon, as more water from record storms flowed into Lake Oroville, officials detected a hole in the emergency spillway and eventually ordered the evacuations.
• By late Sunday, the crisis at the Oroville Dam eased somewhat, as the water level at the reservoir dropped. That halted water flow from a damaged emergency spillway that officials feared could collapse. But officials stressed that the situation is still dangerous and that evacuations should continue.
• A failure of the emergency spillway could cause huge amounts of water to flow into the Feather River, which runs through downtown Oroville, and other waterways.
• Gov. Jerry Brown issued an  emergency order  aimed at bolstering the state's response to the crisis. ...

[Cripplecreek]

This image was taken in 2015 when the water was low.

[Suppressed]

Some people just don't inspect things until they break.

So true.

But environmentalists warned about the emergency spillway more than a decade ago...

Three environmental groups - the Friends of the River, the Sierra Club and the South Yuba Citizens League - filed a motion with the federal government on Oct. 17, 2005, as part of Oroville Dam's relicensing process, urging federal officials to require that the dam's emergency spillway be armored with concrete, rather than remain as an earthen hillside.

...

The Bush administration rejected that request, however, after the state Department of Water Resources, and the water agencies that would likely have had to pay the bill for the upgrades, said they were unnecessary.

http://www.orovillemr.com/general-news/20170212/state-was-warned-about-inadequacy-of-emergency-spillway

It was the erosion of that emergency spillway that had them dumping rock via helicopter to try to decrease scour.

OTOH, the erosion was less than feared.

[Fishrrman]

Cripplecreek wrote above:
"All of the dams around me are earthen dams with a concrete spillway and millrace. The 1 that is 100 yards from where I sit is an earthen dam first built in the 1880s and rebuilt in the 1980s."

Very well.
But...
How HIGH are those earthen dams nearby you?

Would you feel as comfortable living below an earthen dam 700 feet high?

C'mon, be honest!

[Cripplecreek]

Cripplecreek wrote above:
"All of the dams around me are earthen dams with a concrete spillway and millrace. The 1 that is 100 yards from where I sit is an earthen dam first built in the 1880s and rebuilt in the 1980s."

Very well.
But...
How HIGH are those earthen dams nearby you?

Would you feel as comfortable living below an earthen dam 700 feet high?

C'mon, be honest!

It doesn't matter how high they.

The problem isn't with the dam. The problem is with the concrete spillway next to the dam and the natural hillside that the dam abuts to. They could have built the dam out of concrete, steel or solid diamonds and the same thing would have happened.

[jpsb]

Cripplecreek wrote above:
"All of the dams around me are earthen dams with a concrete spillway and millrace. The 1 that is 100 yards from where I sit is an earthen dam first built in the 1880s and rebuilt in the 1980s."

Very well.
But...
How HIGH are those earthen dams nearby you?

Would you feel as comfortable living below an earthen dam 700 feet high?

C'mon, be honest!

Particularly in an earth quake prone zone. Does not dirt liquidity when shaken with water present?