oedipusaurus_rex

You're looking for something that isn't there. This is negligence pure and simple.

Our dam and interstate infrastructure are overdue to be replaced by about 15 - 20 years.

You can't engineer a dam to fail at a specific time without doing something obvious, like packing it with explosives.

The emergency spillway is being undercut by erosion which is destabilizing it. This is a totally normal problem for dams, and it's fairly easy to fix it. California has just had one of the longest droughts it's ever had (if not THE longest). The emergency spillway wouldn't be an issue unless there was a shit ton of precipitation, which no one would expect in a long drought.

Now they have to choose between using the emergency spillway (which is unstable) or letting the water over-top the dam. The non-concrete parts of the dam have a clay core, which is easily picked up by water. If the water overflows the dam then the flow will erode the clay core, which destabilizes the dam causing massive failure.

If you want to see what this looks like, there is a lot of video of the Teton Dam failure in 1976. The dam was built with a locally sourced clayey silt core, which does not block the flow of water, so the water in the reservoir piped through the dam and eroded it from the inside out.

oneposteach

This is how I'd do it, knowing the spill is fucked up, wait for rain or snowpack, not open main spill to capacity needed, revert to second spill knowing it will fail. Taper back until emergency spill is breached.

oedipusaurus_rex

The problem is that the water is eroding the slope of the earthen dam. There is basically a gully forming in the side of the dam, and the if the headwall keeps moving closer to the dam it's going to undercut the concrete barrier and the whole dam will literally tip over. The other worst case scenario is that enough dirt is removed from the front of the dam that the weight of the water will overcome the weight of the dam, and just push it out of the way.

shakethetree

I am as of yet undecided. There is no substantial evidence presented for sabotage. I am very up to speed on the situation from a failure of infrastructure perspective. This is a conspiracy sub, so that is why I posted it. Considering the amount of hammering California has been getting by way of natural disaster, and knowing what the PTB are capable of when it comes to cover up of geo-engineering in the region, I have every reason to suspect sabotage. I can also live with the fact that dam's fail, and contractors and engineers are not infallible.

oedipusaurus_rex

its not that the engineers failed. They actually succeeded. Dams are only designed to last for 50 years.

shakethetree

You subscribe to an odd contextual definition of success.

oedipusaurus_rex

It's designed to last 50 years. It lasted over 50 years. I call that a success on the engineering front. The people who failed are the ones who were responsible for performing the maintenance and work that would extend the life of the dam.

FakeNewzIsFake

Rex just seems like he knows what hes talking about.. Plus, common.. This is clearly a BS story.

The Teton dam videos were awesome.

un1ty

Hegelian Dialectic...

shakethetree

See more on this angle from Jim Stone Freelance.