Earlier in February severe rain caused the Oroville Dam in Sacramento to reach capacity. The dam is an earth fill dam approximately 770 feet high, making it one of the tallest dams of this type in the Country. On February 11, water began flowing over the emergency spillway, which prior to that point had never been used, and caused erosion at the base of the weir, threatening to undermine the wall at the top of the spillway and potentially cause a catastrophic failure of the dam. Local police officials ordered a massive evacuation of residents downstream of the dam. The dam didn’t fail and this week flow across the main spillway was stopped to allow officials time to evaluate the damage. The LA Times article linked below has a good summary of many of the issues that led to this crisis. And this article discusses the most recent developments with the shutting off of the flow at the spillway to evaluate damage. [Source: Read more about the Oroville Dam at LA Times. Image: USA Today]
Related Articles
Lawmakers Step Up To Address Dangerous Dams
November 21, 2007
rockman
Press Releases
Comments Off on Lawmakers Step Up To Address Dangerous Dams
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
By: American Rivers
House Approves 200 Million Dollar Authorization to Fix or Remove Ticking Time Bombs
Contacts: Garrett Russo, American Rivers, (202) 423-9494; Laura Wildman, P.E.; American Rivers, (860) 913-3960
Washington, D.C.— Millions of Americans are living in the shadow of dangerous dams all across the country, but that may be about to change, thanks to quick action by the House of Representatives to pass the Dam Rehabilitation and Repair Act of 2007 (H.R 3224), sponsored by Representative John T. Salazar (D-CO). The bill, which authorizes 200 million dollars to help fix, or remove publicly owned dams all across the country, now heads to the Senate.
Major Slope Failure at Yeager Airport in West Virginia
March 16, 2015
rockman
Failures
Comments Off on Major Slope Failure at Yeager Airport in West Virginia
Emergency Repair of Allegheny River Lock No. 6
June 12, 2009
rockman
Project Related
Comments Off on Emergency Repair of Allegheny River Lock No. 6