The Briefing Room

General Category => National/Breaking News => Topic started by: Suppressed on February 10, 2017, 05:32:45 pm

Title: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 10, 2017, 05:32:45 pm
The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety
by HypostaticUnion
http://imgur.com/gallery/xHfxx
(Go to link for click-zoomable full-size pix.)

(http://i.imgur.com/40jI5Hm.jpg)
This is Oroville Dam (right) and the spillway (left). Oroville Dam is the tallest dam in the United States, 50 ft taller than Hoover. It is in Northern California in a little town called Oroville (go figure). 1 hour north of Sacramento, close to Chico, CA, 2 hours south of Redding.

(http://i.imgur.com/xh6kwM7.jpg)
During these storms, the spillway was releasing 70,000 cfs of water (cubic feet a second). Large chunks of concrete began shooting off the spillway. Water started shooting into the air at this sink hole spot.

(http://i.imgur.com/7tgwYVd.jpg)
After shutting it off, they discovered this HUGE sink hole. Speculation now is that during the years of drought, the ground pulled away from the concrete. State experts are working on the cause, but we still have BIG problems.

(http://i.imgur.com/9sfVAbi.jpg)
Just some banana dudes for scale. The lake is rising during the current storms at a rate of about 130,000 cfs. It is almost near capacity. They need to release water so the dam doesn't crest or the emergency spillway be used.

(http://i.imgur.com/XMhX8Fm.png)
Overnight they did some water releasing tests. Bigger hole. Every goes into emergency meetings. Huge hole + powerful water = no easy solutions. Lake is still rising. Town is getting very scared. Many remember the evacuations during the 96-97 El Niño season.

(http://i.imgur.com/1vrajvV.jpg)
A little side by side. Remember the dudes.

(http://i.imgur.com/a9ZlcBD.jpg)
There is an emergency spillway but the State doesn't want to use it for a couple reasons. (1) They never have used it. (2) The water just spills over the the wall down the mountain. Lots of debris into the river could clog downriver smaller dams. (3) There is not controlling this. It is an open system, kind of like that little hole in your bathroom sink. The rate the water goes into the lake would be the rate the water goes over the emergency spillway. It could reach 200,000 cfs if it keeps raining.

(http://i.imgur.com/mE25a9U.jpg)
THEY HAVE A PLAN - and that plan is just to use the busted up spillway at a limited capacity. This will make the concrete problem a lot worse, but will hopefully help them beat the rain. Lots of repairs late spring and early summer. As you can see, the water is rushing down side, eroding the hillside. This is about 20,000 cfs.

(http://]http://i.imgur.com/9O07yXj.jpg)
Here it is at about 40,000 cfs. They turned it up because it rained hard. They are seriously trying not to use the emergency spillway, but they are clearing trees now because it looks like it might be used for the first time sometime Saturday.

(http://i.imgur.com/UOJomr9.jpg)
Memes are cropping up.

(http://i.imgur.com/GR0q44x.png)
Here is my contribution.

Thank you for following our journey. The Officials say there is no imminent threat to the public. Evacuations haven't been scheduled, but all the schools are closed (for some reason). The DAM is totally fine, for now, but our town is on edge because of the weird stuff with the spillway. It has been a total paradigm shift, all of us realizing we live downstream from a potentially huge issue.


Edit by Mod1 to merge two threads and add updated information about evacuation
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Weird Tolkienish Figure on February 10, 2017, 05:35:04 pm
Not a problem:


(http://cdn.cabinetparts.com/media/images/auto/666277f44faf86b60593ae65c7a3f435.jpg)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 10, 2017, 06:21:27 pm
That one pic with the guys in the whole is what got to me...the scale of it is hard to see otherwise.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Joe Wooten on February 10, 2017, 07:03:13 pm
A little grout underneath, then rebuild the reinforced concrete over the hole and it will be as good as new......

I did not see a hydro unit on this dam. With a vertical drop like that one, they could be getting some serious MW out of this dam. Kalifornicatia will need every watt it can get after they finish shutting down Diablo Canyon.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 10, 2017, 07:06:16 pm
Put some illegals on/in it.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idaho_Cowboy on February 10, 2017, 07:08:06 pm
That one pic with the guys in the whole is what got to me...the scale of it is hard to see otherwise.

My first thought was oh, they have some pot holes. Then I saw that picture. That's a big hole.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 10, 2017, 07:10:05 pm
Oroville might want to start filling sandbags, lots and lots of sandbags
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 10, 2017, 07:11:16 pm
Oroville might want to start filling sandbags, lots and lots of sandbags

Burms too.  Build some burms!
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 10, 2017, 07:13:53 pm
Burms too.  Build some burms!

I always spelled that as berms
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 10, 2017, 07:17:53 pm
I always spelled that as berms

Berma Shave?

I think not!    :police:
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: truth_seeker on February 10, 2017, 07:27:52 pm

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

Money probably diverted to feeding, housing, medicating illegals, instead.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 10, 2017, 07:46:14 pm
They aren't thrilled but it doesn't sound like local officials are terribly concerned about any danger downstream. More a matter of "Crap, how are we going to pay for fixing this"

http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Gaping-hole-in-spillway-for-tallest-US-dam-keeps-10922764.php
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 11, 2017, 10:14:04 pm
A little grout underneath, then rebuild the reinforced concrete over the hole and it will be as good as new......

I did not see a hydro unit on this dam. With a vertical drop like that one, they could be getting some serious MW out of this dam. Kalifornicatia will need every watt it can get after they finish shutting down Diablo Canyon.

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

Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Norm Lenhart on February 11, 2017, 11:28:53 pm
They aren't thrilled but it doesn't sound like local officials are terribly concerned about any danger downstream. More a matter of "Crap, how are we going to pay for fixing this"

http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Gaping-hole-in-spillway-for-tallest-US-dam-keeps-10922764.php

The last time "California officials" weren't concerned about a Dam turned out pretty bad for the people below the dam.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 12, 2017, 12:08:00 am
I hope they don't need to use the spillway. Remember, the Grand Canyon was created by water
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 12, 2017, 12:25:28 am
And the power lines from the plant go right underneath the spillway's flood path.

If it erodes the ground, then the power lines could go.

When it rains, it pours....
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 12, 2017, 01:01:05 am
And the power lines from the plant go right underneath the spillway's flood path.

If it erodes the ground, then the power lines could go.

Pop goes the weasel.   
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 12, 2017, 02:27:01 pm
I hope they don't need to use the spillway. Remember, the Grand Canyon was created by water

(http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/mux4ao-Drone-footage-Auxiliary-spillway-at-Lake-Oroville/ALTERNATES/LANDSCAPE_1140/Drone%20footage:%20Auxiliary%20spillway%20at%20Lake%20Oroville)
The Department of Water Resources released a video shot by a drone over the Oroville Dam. Water is seen running over the emergency spillway as well as the main spillway. Department of Water Resources


(http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/haj9t5/picture132239189/ALTERNATES/FREE_960/1_RP_OROVILLE_emergency_sw)
Water flows over the 1,700-foot emergency spillway, left bottom, at Lake Oroville for the first time since the lake was built in 1968 on Saturday, February 11, 2017 in Oroville, Calif. Randy Pench rpench@sacbee.com

As emergency spillway flows, state says repairs to crippled Oroville Dam could run $200 million
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article132154774.html
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 12, 2017, 02:28:31 pm
And the power lines from the plant go right underneath the spillway's flood path.

If it erodes the ground, then the power lines could go.

Saturday morning, helicopters flew back and forth over the dam area, as Pacific Gas and Electric crews worked to dismantle cables and electrical components from electrical towers on a hillside adjacent to the main spillway, concerned that they, too, could be dragged into the channel by the crashing flows.

Denny Boyles, a spokesman for PG&E, said the work was being done in “an abundance of caution” to minimize materials that might get sucked into the river if the land around the towers is eroded by the powerful flows.

Unlike the main spillway, which is lined in concrete, the emergency spillway dumps water onto an open hillside. DWR officials had worked feverishly in recent days to try to lower reservoir levels enough to avoid overtopping the emergency structure, concerned that the outflows would scour the hillside, dumping additional trees, mud and debris into the Feather River. Work crews spent Thursday and Friday removing some of the trees from the ravine below the emergency spillway as a contingency.

Cal Fire spokesman Mike Smith said DWR officials had laid out floating structures known as booms in the waterways to catch debris.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article132154774.html
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: mountaineer on February 12, 2017, 02:29:17 pm
Berma Shave?

I think not!    :police:
I don't believe more shaving cream is the solution!  22222frying pan
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: jpsb on February 12, 2017, 03:09:28 pm
Oroville might want to start filling sandbags, lots and lots of sandbags

I wonder how many sand bags you would need to stop a 700' tall wall of water traveling at 100 mph. Any one?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 12, 2017, 03:18:47 pm
I wonder how many sand bags you would need to stop a 700' tall wall of water traveling at 100 mph. Any one?

The dam is not at risk of failure.  The spillway is a separate structure and the emergency spillway is even farther apart.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: jpsb on February 12, 2017, 03:19:54 pm
The dam is not at risk of failure.  The spillway is a separate structure and the emergency spillway is even farther apart.

OK, hope you're right.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 12, 2017, 03:50:33 pm
OK, hope you're right.

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

Quote
Kevin Dossey, a DWR engineer, said Friday that additional cracks had appeared in the main spillway as recently as 2013 but also were repaired. With water hitting the concrete chute at an estimated 50 mph, "spillway erosion is a natural thing," he said.

The spillway has had nearly half a century of fast moving water eroding the surface.  The dam holds back nearly unmoving water.  The erosion on the spillway is not related to the dam.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 12, 2017, 05:50:09 pm
Saturday morning, helicopters flew back and forth over the dam area, as Pacific Gas and Electric crews worked to dismantle cables and electrical components from electrical towers on a hillside adjacent to the main spillway, concerned that they, too, could be dragged into the channel by the crashing flows.

They're working fast.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Weird Tolkienish Figure on February 13, 2017, 02:17:31 am
https://www.rt.com/usa/377147-oroville-dam-collapse-evacuation/
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: mountaineer on February 13, 2017, 02:19:01 am
Now they're calling for evacuation.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: skeeter on February 13, 2017, 02:24:15 am
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: dfwgator on February 13, 2017, 02:25:11 am
The media is already trying to figure out how to blame Trump.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: skeeter on February 13, 2017, 02:29:55 am
In case you missed it:

I didn't.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 13, 2017, 02:35:37 am
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?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 13, 2017, 03:11:45 am
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:
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 13, 2017, 03:28:28 am
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
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C4g2dlRVYAIJ7au.jpg)

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
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Smokin Joe on February 13, 2017, 04:16:15 am
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Smokin Joe on February 13, 2017, 04:19:49 am
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Norm Lenhart on February 13, 2017, 04:27:26 am
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 13, 2017, 04:34:43 am
I want you to build...an ark.

"Rightttttt.. Whats an ark?"


Right ... What's a cubit?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Fishrrman on February 13, 2017, 04:41:45 am
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....?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Right_in_Virginia on February 13, 2017, 05:03:55 am
Quote
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
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Right_in_Virginia on February 13, 2017, 05:06:47 am
Quote
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
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: jpsb on February 13, 2017, 07:00:31 am
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/
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 13, 2017, 07:19:26 am
Now they're calling for evacuation.

Kind of saw that coming
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 13, 2017, 07:27:34 am
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 13, 2017, 11:54:29 am
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: mountaineer on February 13, 2017, 12:01:17 pm
Live updates at L.A. Times (http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-live-updates-oroville-dam-20170212-htmlstory.html).
Latest:
Quote
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. ...
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 13, 2017, 12:09:55 pm
This image was taken in 2015 when the water was low.

(http://i.imgur.com/uvPGah1.png)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 13, 2017, 01:56:21 pm
Some people just don't inspect things until they break.

So true.

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

Quote
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Fishrrman on February 13, 2017, 03:19:41 pm
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!
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 13, 2017, 03:28:21 pm
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.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: jpsb on February 13, 2017, 03:34:26 pm
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?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 13, 2017, 03:56:44 pm
This dam isn't going anywhere. It must be 2500 to 3000 feet wide at its base.

(http://i.imgur.com/8tNnBDs.jpg)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idaho_Cowboy on February 13, 2017, 04:19:52 pm
I wonder how many sand bags you would need to stop a 700' tall wall of water traveling at 100 mph. Any one?
All of them.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: truth_seeker on February 13, 2017, 04:26:20 pm

News this morning, said "good things" happened overnight.

But more rain is forecast later this week.

Live stream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T8Gz0kMxBw
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: mountaineer on February 13, 2017, 04:52:31 pm
Oroville Dam: Feds and State Officials Ignored Warnings 12 Years Ago (http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/)
Quote
by Paul Rogers
PUBLISHED: February 12, 2017 at 9:37 pm | UPDATED: February 13, 2017 at 8:25 am

More than a decade ago, federal and state officials and some of California’s largest water agencies rejected concerns that the massive earthen spillway at Oroville Dam — at risk of collapse Sunday night and prompting the evacuation of 185,000 people — could erode during heavy winter rains and cause a catastrophe.  ...


Too busy giving the taxpayers' money to illegals?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idiot on February 13, 2017, 05:08:24 pm
News this morning, said "good things" happened overnight.

But more rain is forecast later this week.

Live stream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T8Gz0kMxBw
I saw the Oroville dam when flying from LA to Seattle.  It was quite impressive.

Great to hear that the water level had dropped overnight.  Get ready for the lawsuits due to the "false alarm."  I can't imagine living downstream of that huge dam/lake.

Here's hoping things continue to get better for them.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: truth_seeker on February 13, 2017, 05:38:52 pm
Oroville Dam: Feds and State Officials Ignored Warnings 12 Years Ago (http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/)

Too busy giving the taxpayers' money to illegals?

Or building a high speed train between "middle of nowhere" and "middle of nowhere II"
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Norm Lenhart on February 13, 2017, 05:51:03 pm
Oroville Dam: Feds and State Officials Ignored Warnings 12 Years Ago (http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/12/oroville-dam-feds-and-state-officials-ignored-warnings-12-years-ago/)

Too busy giving the taxpayers' money to illegals?

All those people have had more than ample opportunity to get out of their communist ruled state. California government and dams have a very poor history.

They all managed to find an excuse, usually involving keeping their toys, to stay. Actions have consequences. If that dam goes, they lose their toys and maybe their lives and those of their families. But they knew better and chose to stay.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: dfwgator on February 13, 2017, 05:53:52 pm
All those people have had more than ample opportunity to get out of their communist ruled state. California government and dams have a very poor history.

They all managed to find an excuse, usually involving keeping their toys, to stay. Actions have consequences. If that dam goes, they lose their toys and maybe their lives and those of their families. But they knew better and chose to stay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_516ml5ImGU
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Fishrrman on February 13, 2017, 05:53:57 pm
Interesting graphic (posted full size for clarity):
(https://s17-us2.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https:%2F%2Fwww.metabunk.org%2Fattachments%2Foroville-why-no-collapse-metabunk-jpg.24429%2F&sp=003b4f403bd4bf15def31ed0be2c9f26)

The "this ridge" area -- is there bedrock beneath, or is that, too, "sediment"?

Same goes for the area highlighted in blue.
Won't severe overflow from the emergency spillway -- and the resulting erosion of the ground beneath the blue area -- erode away, gradually but inevitably weakening the entire structure?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Norm Lenhart on February 13, 2017, 05:57:27 pm
Interesting graphic (posted full size for clarity):
(https://s17-us2.ixquick.com/cgi-bin/serveimage?url=https:%2F%2Fwww.metabunk.org%2Fattachments%2Foroville-why-no-collapse-metabunk-jpg.24429%2F&sp=003b4f403bd4bf15def31ed0be2c9f26)

The "this ridge" area -- is there bedrock beneath, or is that, too, "sediment"?

Same goes for the area highlighted in blue.
Won't severe overflow from the emergency spillway -- and the resulting erosion of the ground beneath the blue area -- erode away, gradually but inevitably weakening the entire structure?

That graphic reminds me of the Titanic people that touted it's unsinkability. Their ridge isnn't gonna make squat difference if the emergency spillway erodes to the right toward the dam's face and turns the whole underlayment to mud.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 13, 2017, 06:10:39 pm
Particularly in an earth quake prone zone. Does not dirt liquidity when shaken with water present?

The construction of the dam is believed to have led to a quake of something like 5.7 (Richter) on a local fault, in the mid-70s. 

Yes, liquifaction can occur with water and shaking.   A quake would not be good right now.

Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: LateForLunch on February 13, 2017, 07:04:48 pm
That graphic reminds me of the Titanic people that touted it's unsinkability. Their ridge isnn't gonna make squat difference if the emergency spillway erodes to the right toward the dam's face and turns the whole underlayment to mud.

All those who are willing to risk their lives based on trusting the California state government officials word that the dam is not in danger of collapse signify by saying "AYE!" (cricket sounds).

The bill for repair of the spillway is likely already close to a quarter of a billion dollars. Will anyone in the mass media obligate the government to explain why they decided not to follow the recommended reinforcement advised years ago !?! Gentlemen, here is your circus - here is your carnival of mutual rape that is leftist politics-as-usual.

Defenestration, starting with Moonbeam.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idiot on February 13, 2017, 07:08:38 pm
All those who are willing to risk their lives based on trusting the California state government officials word that the dam is not in danger of collapse signify by saying "AYE!" (cricket sounds).

The bill for repair of the spillway is likely already close to a quarter of a billion dollars. Will anyone in the mass media obligate the government to explain why they decided not to follow the recommended reinforcement recommended years ago !?! Gentlemen, here is your circus - here is your carnival of mutual rape that is leftist politics-as-usual.

Defenestration, starting with Moonbeam.
It won't be long before they want federal government to pay for the repair.  We will...we always do.........
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: truth_seeker on February 13, 2017, 09:23:31 pm

Psychiatrists and psychologists yesterday, and today come the geologists and dam builders.

Can't we  all just switch to trans-Atlantic mind reading again?

 
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Smokin Joe on February 13, 2017, 09:24:45 pm
So true.

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

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.
You'd expect the soil and loose material to be stripped by the current, especially that much water. The key issue with the emergency spillway is the integrity of the underlying bedrock. I would expect that the bedrock on either end of the dam would be solid enough to withstand both the pressure of the water behind it and the flow of substantial water over it, otherwise, the reservoir would have evacuated itself long ago.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: rangerrebew on February 14, 2017, 10:45:45 pm
Activists Warned Officials About Oroville Dam 12 Years Ago… but Nobody Listened
February 14, 2017 | The Anti-Media | theantimedia.org | 387 views


by Carey Wedler

Officials were warned twelve years in advance about potential safety hazards at the Oroville Dam in Butte County, California, which now faces the risk of flooding nearby residential areas as a result of a broken spillway and increased rainfall.

Local outlet Mercury News reports:

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/activists-warned-officials-about-oroville-dam-12-years-ago-but-nobody-listened_022017
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: rangerrebew on February 14, 2017, 10:47:22 pm
I guess they were too busy listening to illegal aliens and environment whackoes.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: anubias on February 14, 2017, 11:13:37 pm
I guess they were too busy listening to illegal aliens and environment whackoes.

It was environmental wackos doing the warning.  Check out the list in the link.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 14, 2017, 11:23:36 pm
It was environmental wackos doing the warning.  Check out the list in the link.

Yup.

They were right to be concerned and authorities should have taken it seriously but the enviros have damaged their own credibility over the years.

However its also important to know exactly what the enviros were saying at the time. Generally when enviros speak about dams its to demand that the river be released from its shackles and allowed to run free.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 04:16:11 am
Yup.

They were right to be concerned and authorities should have taken it seriously but the enviros have damaged their own credibility over the years.

However its also important to know exactly what the enviros were saying at the time. Generally when enviros speak about dams its to demand that the river be released from its shackles and allowed to run free.
They wanted the emergency spillway armored with concrete.  President Bush declined their request.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: GtHawk on February 15, 2017, 04:43:22 am
I guess they were too busy listening to illegal aliens and environment whackoes.
Well RINO Maximus The Governator was in charge at the time so if you want to blame it on democrats you'd still be right! :whistle:
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: GtHawk on February 15, 2017, 04:44:59 am
They wanted the emergency spillway armored with concrete.  President Bush declined their request.
And Arnie the governator was in charge of California, good to see that he took charge.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Norm Lenhart on February 15, 2017, 05:14:58 am
Yup.

They were right to be concerned and authorities should have taken it seriously but the enviros have damaged their own credibility over the years.

However its also important to know exactly what the enviros were saying at the time. Generally when enviros speak about dams its to demand that the river be released from its shackles and allowed to run free.

If the project had been approved and funded, the enviros would have sued because they suddenly discovered evidence of the endangered snarfblat of which 5 potentially exist, only live on the spillway, so building the thing would be impossible by law.

The enviros would then sue to have the dam dismantled as a safety hazzard plus legal expenses. A Cali court would have given them a win and $$$.

Eliminating every dam in the country is one of the goals of the econazis. They are not remotely concerned about public safety in this case. Or any other. I have serious doubts that they had a team of scientists or even a random construction worker 'advising them' when they determined the dam/spillway had an issue. At best, it was a 'lucky' guess.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Smokin Joe on February 15, 2017, 06:41:59 am
While I won't take issue with the aims of ecowhacko groups trying to have dams removed, You don't exactly need a PhD in Civil Engineering to figure out that when massive quantities of water run over unprotected soil, you are going to get erosion. No "lucky guess", actually, just an unusual display of common sense.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 12:49:27 pm
They wanted the emergency spillway armored with concrete.  President Bush declined their request.

Why would this dam be a federal project?  It was built for California Water Supply and electric power.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 01:02:16 pm
Why would this dam be a federal project?  It was built for California Water Supply and electric power.

They petitioned to have it added as a requirement of relicensing.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 15, 2017, 01:07:14 pm
Why would this dam be a federal project?  It was built for California Water Supply and electric power.

I don't know about the dam at Oroville but a lot of dams, locks, canals etc are under the jurisdiction of the army corps of engineers. The USACE oversaw the rebuild the dam here where I live as well as one near where I grew up. In fact if I want to put in a permenant dock, I have to send plans and an application to the USACE for approval.

That said, I can't find any connection to the USACE in the case of the Oroville dam.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Oceander on February 15, 2017, 01:13:09 pm
Why would this dam be a federal project?  It was built for California Water Supply and electric power.

It requires permits from the USACE because it's affecting so-called "waters of the United States" which pretty much covers most significant water resources. 

http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Jurisdiction.aspx
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 01:20:33 pm
It requires permits from the USACE because it's affecting so-called "waters of the United States" which pretty much covers most significant water resources. 

http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Jurisdiction.aspx

Thank you.  So the Feds can set minimum requirements, but there was no reason the State Agency overseeing and paying for the work could not have decided to make the emergency spillway contain more concrete farther down the slope.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 15, 2017, 01:26:53 pm
It requires permits from the USACE because it's affecting so-called "waters of the United States" which pretty much covers most significant water resources. 

http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Jurisdiction.aspx

Even the Soo Locks webcams are on a .mil address.

https://webcam.erdc.dren.mil/soo/
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 01:30:52 pm
Thank you.  So the Feds can set minimum requirements, but there was no reason the State Agency overseeing and paying for the work could not have decided to make the emergency spillway contain more concrete farther down the slope.

The state agencies decided it was unnecessary and fought the request.  I suspect it was because of costs.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 01:44:19 pm
Has anyone seen discussion of this problem being partly due to attempting to maintain too high a level in the dam, given the current snow and rain conditions?

We have seen problems in Texas where it appears those responsible for flood control dams, after many years of drought, maintain too high a level in the reservoir and are unable to prevent flooding.

It is as if they retrain the operations to maintain as high a possible water level to deal with problems of water supply, then are over run by heavy rains.

Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 02:01:32 pm
Has anyone seen discussion of this problem being partly due to attempting to maintain too high a level in the dam, given the current snow and rain conditions?

We have seen problems in Texas where it appears those responsible for flood control dams, after many years of drought, maintain too high a level in the reservoir and are unable to prevent flooding.

It is as if they retrain the operations to maintain as high a possible water level to deal with problems of water supply, then are over run by heavy rains.

They were releasing the maximum amount they felt they could without further damaging the main spillway, which had a sinkhole developing.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 02:05:54 pm
They were releasing the maximum amount they felt they could without further damaging the main spillway, which had a sinkhole developing.

But when did that release start?  Should it have been at slower flows a lot earlier?  Or have they trained themselves to always first try to maximize lake level?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 02:09:47 pm
But when did that release start?  Should it have been at slower flows a lot earlier?  Or have they trained themselves to always first try to maximize lake level?

I think they "maximize" lake level to an extent... but the big problem was the spillway damage.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Joe Wooten on February 15, 2017, 02:42:27 pm
I don't know about the dam at Oroville but a lot of dams, locks, canals etc are under the jurisdiction of the army corps of engineers. The USACE oversaw the rebuild the dam here where I live as well as one near where I grew up. In fact if I want to put in a permenant dock, I have to send plans and an application to the USACE for approval.

That said, I can't find any connection to the USACE in the case of the Oroville dam.

No it was not a federal project. it was built by the state of California back when they were a national leader on doing infrastructure work. Since the 80's the state has abandoned infrastructure work and even quit doing maintenance on what they had in order to spend more on welfare, environmentalism and crony projects.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: LateForLunch on February 15, 2017, 03:03:44 pm
They wanted the emergency spillway armored with concrete.  President Bush declined their request.

Hugh Hewitt reported that the environmental groups OPPOSED concrete as a solution.

Regardless, the State of California was the negligent party. I'm no huge fan of Bush 43 (or 41 for that matter) but the reality is that the Feds had no legal right to do anything because it was owned / administrated by Mexifornia and even though it was likely not fully up to code, the state regulatory agencies had jurisdiction. It was apparently marginally compliant with federal regulations. Since we can't blame Bush, maybe we can move on to blaming DJT. (rolls eyes)

The more cost-effective solution would have been to think long-term, ignore the idiotic ecoparanoids, approve funding to line the necessary parts with concrete and just do it. Now the cost will be much, much higher than if they had just fixed the issue before it became a chaotic mess.

But of course, that is what government (especially 'Crat dominated government) does best - create chaos, needless waste, loss and destruction.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 03:20:26 pm
hah hah Not true. The environmental groups OPPOSED concrete as a solution. As usual, they were trying simply to give a lot of criticism without having any practical, constructive, cost-effective ideas for help (to effectively throw a monkey wrench into anything that was healthy for the state's economy).

The government was warned that the Oroville Dam emergency spillway was unsafe. It didn’t listen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/13/officials-were-warned-the-oroville-dam-emergency-spillway-wasnt-safe-they-didnt-listen/?utm_term=.d366e4842902

...In October 2005, as the Oroville Dam was going through a re-licensing process, the three groups filed a motion urging a federal regulatory agency to require state officials to armor the emergency spillway with concrete so that in the event of extreme rain and flooding, water would not freely cascade down and erode the hillside. The upgrade would have cost millions of dollars and no one wanted to foot the bill, said Ronald Stork, senior policy advocate for Friends of the River, one of the groups that filed the motion....
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: LateForLunch on February 15, 2017, 03:30:42 pm
The government was warned that the Oroville Dam emergency spillway was unsafe. It didn’t listen.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/13/officials-were-warned-the-oroville-dam-emergency-spillway-wasnt-safe-they-didnt-listen/?utm_term=.d366e4842902

...In October 2005, as the Oroville Dam was going through a re-licensing process, the three groups filed a motion urging a federal regulatory agency to require state officials to armor the emergency spillway with concrete so that in the event of extreme rain and flooding, water would not freely cascade down and erode the hillside. The upgrade would have cost millions of dollars and no one wanted to foot the bill, said Ronald Stork, senior policy advocate for Friends of the River, one of the groups that filed the motion....

hah hah well, you got me. That will teach me to rely on Hugh Hewitt for information like this. However, that hardly places the Bush administration at the center of the responsibility chain. The Army Corps of Engineers tossed the ball to the state, who promptly sat on it using the legal authority of jurisdiction because they didn't want to spend the money. Maybe the state b*astards were hoping that there would be a catastrophe which would then allow federal disaster-relief funding to kick in so that the state wouldn't have to pay for it.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 03:36:57 pm
hah hah Not true. The environmental groups OPPOSED concrete as a solution.

MOTION TO INTERVENE
OF
FRIENDS OF THE RIVER
SIERRA CLUB
SOUTH YUBA RIVER CITIZENS LEAGUE

http://yubariver.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/10172005_FOR-Sierra-Club-SYRCL_Oroville-Dam-Joint-Intervention.pdf

Reading through the aboved linked petition, these groups wanted the Emergency Spillway reclassified as an Auxiliary Spillway due to the operations maintaining a rather full reservoir.  With the classification as an Auxiliary Spillway, it is no longer permitted to be designed with the expected significant damage when used.  As an Auxiliary Spillway, the hillside had to be armored (concrete covered).  In the petition conclusions, page 29 of 29 they stated:

Quote
ACE required regulated design-release operational-surcharge operations would divert up to this entire flow over the ungated spillway and onto the hillside to the left of the main-service spillway. In spite of believing during the 1997 New Years Day flood that it was in hours of needing to use this unarmored “spillway without a spillway,” DWR proposes to relicense Oroville Dam without constructing an auxiliary spillway to ensure such flows do not mobilize the hillside. Intervenors (in part) seek an action by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to require such an auxiliary spillway.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: thackney on February 15, 2017, 03:39:02 pm
However, that hardly places the Bush administration at the center of the responsibility chain.

Absolutely agree.

Their argument was the state agency has chosen to operate it in such a fashion that the use of the emergency spillway is more likely (due to high water levels) than is justified by the term emergency.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: LateForLunch on February 15, 2017, 03:50:36 pm
Absolutely agree.

Their argument was the state agency has chosen to operate it in such a fashion that the use of the emergency spillway is more likely (due to high water levels) than is justified by the term emergency.

Ah! Thanks very much for providing that clarifying information in the previous post. No doubt the leftist mass media will be silent on how the government pushed the matter down the road (resulting in ballooning costs to fix it) since the politicians and agencies responsible were likely all leftists.

I think I understand why Hewitt's program misled me, the environmental groups were in favor of fixing the spillway but apparently not in favor of covering the entire hillside with concrete as would have been required if it was reclassified. So I guess maybe they chickened out at the last minute when they found out that reclassification and armoring the hillside with concrete were inseparable which would explain why there was no further litigation from the groups to fight the state on the decision to leave the hillside below the dam (especially along the main channel) as it was (bare, erosion-prone soil instead of concrete). 
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 15, 2017, 04:52:26 pm
I've been checking with some old timers about the two dams that were rebuilt near me in the 80s. Turns out that both earthen dams breached at the concrete spillway or millrace.

Water in the ground comes up against the impervious concrete and begins to pool and flow there. In some cases water gets behind the concrete by way of a crack. In fact, modern dams are designed to leak in a controlled and monitored manner.

The one in Horton Michigan near where I grew up actually breached twice. The first time was because the century old un-maintained earthen dam simply eroded and weakened. Trees had grown up in the dam and died further weakening it and finally a storm blew down a big willow tree perched atop the dam and took out several tons of the dam and started to flow. The USACE spent the summer rebuilding the dam and that following winter it breached beside the spillway.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 05:20:44 pm
In fact, modern dams are designed to leak in a controlled and monitored manner.

It's funny...this was such a surprising revelation to me in grad school, it still stands out in my mind (I took some civil engineering classes to support my geology research, and as part of it we covered some dam design [which I didn't need!]).

But you're right, hydraulic pressure is a very important part of dam design, and lengthening the pathways the water has to seep through (so it dissipates the pressure) is an important component.  In fact, without accounting for this, a dam can actually be lifted upward from the pressure difference, with water flowing under it.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 15, 2017, 05:43:34 pm
It's funny...this was such a surprising revelation to me in grad school, it still stands out in my mind (I took some civil engineering classes to support my geology research, and as part of it we covered some dam design [which I didn't need!]).

But you're right, hydraulic pressure is a very important part of dam design, and lengthening the pathways the water has to seep through (so it dissipates the pressure) is an important component.  In fact, without accounting for this, a dam can actually be lifted upward from the pressure difference, with water flowing under it.

Lots of mass moving at once doesn't always behave the way we would expect. Kind of like pyroclastic flows going hundreds of miles at high speed. Rock and dirt wouldn't flow as far as fast over the ground without riding on a cushion of air. Kinda like an air hockey table.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idaho_Cowboy on February 15, 2017, 06:06:50 pm
It's funny...this was such a surprising revelation to me in grad school, it still stands out in my mind (I took some civil engineering classes to support my geology research, and as part of it we covered some dam design [which I didn't need!]).

But you're right, hydraulic pressure is a very important part of dam design, and lengthening the pathways the water has to seep through (so it dissipates the pressure) is an important component.  In fact, without accounting for this, a dam can actually be lifted upward from the pressure difference, with water flowing under it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teton_Dam

I don't know about lifting up, but water seepage can bring down a dam if the circumstances are wrong.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 06:11:30 pm
Lots of mass moving at once doesn't always behave the way we would expect. Kind of like pyroclastic flows going hundreds of miles at high speed. Rock and dirt wouldn't flow as far as fast over the ground without riding on a cushion of air. Kinda like an air hockey table.

While not directly related, I was just looking at this indirectly related page: http://imgur.com/gallery/JMMQm

It's an important consideration in the flow of glaciers, too...a very thin layer of water can allow a glacier to flow much faster.

The earth has so many fascinating aspects.  I still experience wonder and amazement.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: LateForLunch on February 15, 2017, 06:48:54 pm
The issue regarding possible dam structure failure seems to focus on water tunneling under the dam's base caused by erosion. As with any large structure, its stability depends upon a consistently solid base to distribute downward stress evenly along the entire structure. A small-scale failure of even a fraction of that foundation can destabilize the weight and cause catastrophic failure along the entire structure- especially since there is shifting forward force emanating from the water behind the structure. Like a crack in a curved window, even a small collapse under the foundation at the right point could destroy the structural integrity of the whole dam. 
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 07:29:22 pm
The issue regarding possible dam structure failure seems to focus on water tunneling under the dam's base caused by erosion. As with any large structure, its stability depends upon a consistently solid base to distribute downward stress evenly along the entire structure. A small-scale failure of even a fraction of that foundation can destabilize the weight and cause catastrophic failure along the entire structure- especially since there is shifting forward force emanating from the water behind the structure. Like a crack in a curved window, even a small collapse under the foundation at the right point could destroy the structural integrity of the whole dam.

Correct, though generally, dams are designed to not distribute it evenly, but with most of the weight on the "upstream" side, where the uplift pressure is greatest.  Generally, if there's a sheeted or grouted curtain under the dam, there's much less need for downforce on the downstream side than upstream.

(http://d2vlcm61l7u1fs.cloudfront.net/media%2F517%2F517743b2-b5a4-42cf-add6-fda5ef10d2c8%2FphpFW7OOf.png)
Note how there's 150' of head at C and only 30 at K.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 15, 2017, 07:31:08 pm
Correct, though generally, dams are designed to not distribute it evenly, but with most of the weight on the "upstream" side, where the uplift pressure is greatest.  Generally, if there's a sheeted or grouted curtain under the dam, there's much less need for downforce on the downstream side than upstream.

(http://d2vlcm61l7u1fs.cloudfront.net/media%2F517%2F517743b2-b5a4-42cf-add6-fda5ef10d2c8%2FphpFW7OOf.png)
Note how there's 150' of head at C and only 30 at K.

(http://i.imgur.com/8tNnBDs.jpg)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 07:34:02 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/8tNnBDs.jpg)

Exactly.  The downforce isn't evenly spread.  Note that the water is atop part of the dam on the upstream side, then it tails off in downforce as you go downstream from the crest.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idiot on February 15, 2017, 08:08:13 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/8tNnBDs.jpg)
Crap...why did I sleep through physics...lol.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 15, 2017, 08:14:17 pm
Crap...why did I sleep through physics...lol.

 :laugh:

I wish I could have slept through it...less pain that way!
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 15, 2017, 08:27:09 pm
:laugh:

I wish I could have slept through it...less pain that way!

Its interesting to me but I don't want to do the math.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Joe Wooten on February 15, 2017, 11:31:40 pm
Its interesting to me but I don't want to do the math.

BUTBUTBUT.... Physics was fun!!
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 15, 2017, 11:47:10 pm
BUTBUTBUT.... Physics was fun!!

In the old days people would say "Nerd!"

Now they just say, "Sure, boss!"
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: rangerrebew on February 16, 2017, 02:20:45 pm
 Obama Stimulus Funds Went to California Dam in ‘Good Shape,’ But Not Oroville
Posted By Elizabeth Harrington On February 16, 2017 @ 5:00 am In Issues | No Comments

The 2009 stimulus package funded millions of dollars for safety improvements for a dam in California that was in “good shape,” but not to the Oroville Dam that is now on the verge of a spillway crisis.

Nearly 200,000 residents north of Sacramento were ordered to evacuate after fears that erosion would cause the emergency spillway to fail, which would lead to “catastrophic flooding“ from a 30-foot wall of water.

Despite more than a decade of warnings about Oroville, there is no public record of the country’s tallest dam receiving any of the more than $34 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sent to California for infrastructure projects.



Article printed from Washington Free Beacon: http://freebeacon.com

URL to article: http://freebeacon.com/issues/obama-stimulus-funds-went-california-dam-good-shape-not-oroville/
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 16, 2017, 07:09:52 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/b2HWc2N.jpg)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idiot on February 16, 2017, 07:34:26 pm
(http://i.imgur.com/b2HWc2N.jpg)
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 16, 2017, 10:32:46 pm
(http://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16681778_1444400242289916_442223808411725699_n.png?oh=8f433d84bbdb20b94cafe70fc8320cc4&oe=593C5EFE)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idiot on February 17, 2017, 02:16:47 am
(http://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16681778_1444400242289916_442223808411725699_n.png?oh=8f433d84bbdb20b94cafe70fc8320cc4&oe=593C5EFE)
@Wingnut
 :thumbsup3:
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Oceander on February 17, 2017, 02:19:21 am
(http://i.imgur.com/b2HWc2N.jpg)

It could work!
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Oceander on February 17, 2017, 02:22:15 am
Crap...why did I sleep through physics...lol.

Engineering, not physics.  :smokin:
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Smokin Joe on February 17, 2017, 02:31:38 am
(http://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16681778_1444400242289916_442223808411725699_n.png?oh=8f433d84bbdb20b94cafe70fc8320cc4&oe=593C5EFE)
I look at the amount of erosion there, and knowing one man's erosion is another man's sediment, realize that if you or I allowed that much sediment load to enter a river we would be besieged with EPA, USFWS, ACoE, and an alphabet soup of agencies for the amount of turbidity we had caused downstream. When it is a government agency, though, Gold King Mine rules apply,,,
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: rangerrebew on February 18, 2017, 02:01:03 pm
It's ba-a-ck! Oroville again threatening lives
Officials don't believe there would be time for evacuations if dam failed
Published: 13 hours ago

 

Californians who dodged a bullet only a week ago when the water from California’s Lake Oroville, a giant reservoir created by a dam 770 feet tall, was overwhelming a damaged spillway and eroding the hillside, have reason to worry again.

Not only is a massive weather system predicted to drop large amounts of precipitation over the drainage this weekend, new warnings are being issued that the entire structure could fail and people downstream wouldn’t have time to flee.

The Associated Press reported late Friday it had uncovered reports from federal regulators several years ago who insisted there should be public-warning systems, annual publicity campaigns and better detection procedures because of the threat that exists from the dam.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2017/02/its-ba-a-ck-oroville-again-threatening-lives/#jisIOsckUi3weU1e.99
Published: 13 hours ago
 
 
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: rangerrebew on February 18, 2017, 02:02:22 pm
I sure hope that high speed rail system they built with billions of dollars, rather than shore up dams, doesn't wash away. :whistle:
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: XenaLee on February 18, 2017, 02:12:34 pm
Well.... some wacko religious nut did predict a giant tsunami would hit the east coast.  Of course, it won't be the east coast, or a coast at all..... it probably won't be called a tsunami..... and it's all been very predictable (no voice from God needed) thus far. 

It kind of reminds me of the foreign film, The Wave. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3616916/

Only, in that film the residents didn't really have time to evacuate.   They have plenty of time to get away in this instance.  Let's hope and pray that they will do so.
 
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: XenaLee on February 18, 2017, 02:14:21 pm
I sure hope that high speed rail system they built with billions of dollars, rather than shore up dams, doesn't wash away. :whistle:

Liberalism/leftist control = Misappropriation of funds (See:  New Orleans Katrina disaster).
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: EC on February 18, 2017, 02:18:06 pm
Liberalism/leftist control = Misappropriation of funds (See:  New Orleans Katrina disaster).

Unfortunately in this case, funds were never appropriated, so mis-appropriation isn't a charge. Wilfull endangerment, on the other hand .....
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: XenaLee on February 18, 2017, 02:23:56 pm
Unfortunately in this case, funds were never appropriated, so mis-appropriation isn't a charge. Wilfull endangerment, on the other hand .....

The term may not be applicable, strictly speaking.  But I was replying to the comment by rangebarrow re: how California chose to spend billions on rail vs. infrastructure (this particular dam).

Quote
I sure hope that high speed rail system they built with billions of dollars, rather than shore up dams, doesn't wash away.

When liberals take money that they coulda woulda shoulda spent on shoring up a known problem and instead squander that cash on over-budget bling like high-speed rail systems, the exact same results usually occur.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: EC on February 18, 2017, 02:26:47 pm
The term may not be applicable, strictly speaking.  But I was replying to the comment by rangebarrow re: how California chose to spend billions on rail vs. infrastructure (this particular dam).

When liberals take money that they coulda woulda shoulda spent on shoring up a known problem and instead squander that cash on over-budget bling like high-speed rail systems, the exact same results usually occur.

 :beer:

I seem to be stuck in literal mode this afternoon.

I would like to see some heads roll in a legal sense for this though - it's not as if they weren't warned.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: XenaLee on February 18, 2017, 02:38:17 pm
:beer:

I seem to be stuck in literal mode this afternoon.

I would like to see some heads roll in a legal sense for this though - it's not as if they weren't warned.

Yeah, me too!   :beer:

But you know how liberals are.   Nothing is evah their fault (blame Bush).  Ergo, they never have to take responsibility for their actions and choices.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Smokin Joe on February 19, 2017, 01:53:14 am
Yeah, me too!   :beer:

But you know how liberals are.   Nothing is evah their fault (blame Bush).  Ergo, they never have to take responsibility for their actions and choices.
The liberals wouldn't even listen when other liberals warned them. Too busy burning the budget to buy votes or keep their cronies in contracts.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: corbe on February 20, 2017, 02:11:19 am
   These are hilarious
   Google Map REVIEWS of the Dam


Richard Mackie 

in the last week -   

★★★★★   
 Dam does a great job at showcasing American ingenuity, the advances we have collectively made in water management,  materials science, and our fundamentally negligent attitudes towards maintenance and risk-assessment.

I took off 1 star due to its inability to, you know, hold back water and prevent critical flooding.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oroville+Dam/@38.5358609,-121.7465704,10z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x809cb6e8b27d5f5d:0xf862d16dd22fc74f!8m2!3d39.5379762!4d-121.483064!9m1!1b1 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oroville+Dam/@38.5358609,-121.7465704,10z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x809cb6e8b27d5f5d:0xf862d16dd22fc74f!8m2!3d39.5379762!4d-121.483064!9m1!1b1)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Suppressed on February 20, 2017, 05:13:26 am
   These are hilarious
   Google Map REVIEWS of the Dam


Richard Mackie 

in the last week -   

★★★★★   
 Dam does a great job at showcasing American ingenuity, the advances we have collectively made in water management,  materials science, and our fundamentally negligent attitudes towards maintenance and risk-assessment.

I took off 1 star due to its inability to, you know, hold back water and prevent critical flooding.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oroville+Dam/@38.5358609,-121.7465704,10z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x809cb6e8b27d5f5d:0xf862d16dd22fc74f!8m2!3d39.5379762!4d-121.483064!9m1!1b1 (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oroville+Dam/@38.5358609,-121.7465704,10z/data=!4m7!3m6!1s0x809cb6e8b27d5f5d:0xf862d16dd22fc74f!8m2!3d39.5379762!4d-121.483064!9m1!1b1)


I like the one that closes with...

"Recommend using another dam."
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: geronl on February 20, 2017, 06:27:37 am
 :silly: :silly:
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Idaho_Cowboy on February 20, 2017, 04:55:24 pm
It's ba-a-ck! Oroville again threatening lives
Officials don't believe there would be time for evacuations if dam failed
Published: 13 hours ago

 

Californians who dodged a bullet only a week ago when the water from California’s Lake Oroville, a giant reservoir created by a dam 770 feet tall, was overwhelming a damaged spillway and eroding the hillside, have reason to worry again.

Not only is a massive weather system predicted to drop large amounts of precipitation over the drainage this weekend, new warnings are being issued that the entire structure could fail and people downstream wouldn’t have time to flee.

The Associated Press reported late Friday it had uncovered reports from federal regulators several years ago who insisted there should be public-warning systems, annual publicity campaigns and better detection procedures because of the threat that exists from the dam.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2017/02/its-ba-a-ck-oroville-again-threatening-lives/#jisIOsckUi3weU1e.99
Published: 13 hours ago
And this is why we put the Johnstown flood in all the history books. Let's hope that WND is overplaying the drama here.
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Wingnut on February 20, 2017, 05:05:54 pm
If it bursts Would the book be titled:  a River ran though it.  Or, a river and Over it?
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: corbe on February 20, 2017, 07:16:15 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d52M5M6OOXs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d52M5M6OOXs)
Title: Re: The Whole DAM situation (Tallest dam in US), deteriorating spillway causes lots of anxiety (UPDATE: Evacuations Ordered)
Post by: Cripplecreek on February 20, 2017, 07:43:45 pm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOEQTJV_3-w