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Oroville dam spillway close to collapse

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Oroville dam spillway close to collapse

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Old Feb 12, 2017, 10:39 pm
  #1  
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Oroville dam spillway close to collapse

Largest dam in the USA. Apparently they never tested the emergency spillway. Current information here:

http://www.kcra.com/nowcast

Not a good time to be visiting Oroville, Chico, and other nearby areas as hotels are full.

From SacBee:

Boulders dropped in effort to shore up spillway

At 9 p.m. a state water official said the concrete lip of the emergency spillway was still holding.

“The erosion has slowed, and I think we’re going to be OK,” said state Department of Water Resources spokesman Chris Orrock.

Orrock said efforts Sunday night to shore up the damage included the use of six helicopters that were dropping containers of boulders onto the damaged hillside.

<snip>

Lake Oroville water levels have fallen to 901 feet, the level at which water flows over the emergency spillway, state figures from 8 p.m. show.

That means little or no water is likely coming over the emergency spillway – and the threat of collapse due to erosion has diminished said Joe Countryman, a member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and a former engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

<snip>

This does not mean that the risk of catastrophic flooding has passed. Officials released water so quickly over the damaged main spillway that they may have further threatened its integrity, Countryman said.

<snip>

Last edited by TWA884; Feb 13, 2017 at 8:14 am Reason: FT Rule 9: Copyright violation
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Old Feb 12, 2017, 10:50 pm
  #2  
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I've been listening to the news for the past 2-1/2 hours on the road. Pretty scary.
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Old Feb 13, 2017, 12:15 pm
  #3  
 
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Update: Oroville Dam auxiliary spillway suffers erosion, nearby residents evacuated - hydroworld.com

------------------------

This may be concerning for a few months with precipitation and snowmelt.
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Old Feb 14, 2017, 10:24 am
  #4  
 
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Oroville dam

has anyone thought of securing a gigantic plastic tarp over the concrete spillway so that water can go down without further destroying the concrete? Naturally it would have to be securely attached to the surrounding soil, but there must be some way to cover the concrete spillway temporarily during this crisis.
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Old Feb 14, 2017, 10:49 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by jagesq
has anyone thought of securing a gigantic plastic tarp over the concrete spillway so that water can go down without further destroying the concrete? Naturally it would have to be securely attached to the surrounding soil, but there must be some way to cover the concrete spillway temporarily during this crisis.
It would be too little and too late.







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Old Feb 15, 2017, 12:13 pm
  #6  
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Originally Posted by TWA884
It would be too little and too late.
Photos with the inspectors in the hole reveal how wide and deep it is.

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Old Mar 2, 2017, 4:56 pm
  #7  
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Dramatic images showing the extent of the damage:
Here is one:

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Old Mar 2, 2017, 8:20 pm
  #8  
 
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Originally Posted by dhuey
Photos with the inspectors in the hole reveal how wide and deep it is.

You have to admire their nerve. No telling how long the rest of that mess is going to hold, or when/if it might go.
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Old Mar 2, 2017, 10:42 pm
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Wow that's going to be a nightmare to fix!
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