It's hard to figure out if this event is unlikely or likely to happen. But I won't be surprised to wake up tomorrow to learn that there's a humanitarian crisis in Iraq.
Without action, it's certain it will happen. The question is not if, but when.
A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
21–30 of 179 posts
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#22Is there a summary of the main risks? Sounds interesting but I don't have time for New Yorker-style reporting.
" ... Completed in 1984, the dam sits on a foundation of soluble rock. To keep it stable, hundreds of employees have to work around the clock, pumping a cement mixture into the earth below. Without continuous maintenance, the rock beneath would wash away, causing the dam to sink and then break apart. But Iraq’s recent history has not been conducive to that kind of vigilance. ... In February, the U.S. Embassy in Baghd…
Thank you!
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#23Is there a summary of the main risks? Sounds interesting but I don't have time for New Yorker-style reporting.
There's only one risk, that the dam will burst. Not the dam itself, but the surrounding foundations. They built it on Gypsum (has a tendency to dissolve in water), upkeep work (pumping grout into the voids) stopped for 1-18 months depending on who you ask. " In the language of hydraulic engineering, the process eroding the foundation is known as “solutioning.” If that problem is not addressed, what happens next is “p…
Thank you!
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the first steps in many building foundations is injecting concrete into the soil, typically in the form of pillars. Desperate times probably call for desperate solutions in this case.
Interesting, is there any work done to first evacuate the area of soil or is it simply pushed out of the way using pressure from the concrete?
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Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#25The caption of a picture says the reservoir holds 11 billion cubic FEET, but the article earlier says METERS. That's a magnitude of difference.
I'm curious, were you calculating or using (or thinking about, had some train of thought about) this information or did you just happen to notice the mixed units? I mean because I can't picture either one or ten billion cubic feet of water so it's just a very large number to me and I wouldn't notice that difference.
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#26Amazing read, much longer than I generally get hooked into. I am astonished that "Grouting" (A term i find like many in the engineering word makes a possibly questionable practice sound like a good idea) is a functional, let alone acceptable solution, I can only begin to imagine what the ground under that dam must look like after the last 20+ years of concrete being poured into it.
"Amazing read, much longer than I generally get hooked into."
Please, please subscribe to the New Yorker in some fashion ... I personally subscribe to the kindle version which is a very useful and workable format.
The New Yorker[1] regularly has very, very good long form articles that have deepened my understanding of what I consider to be very important issues. Off the top of my head, I can think of three such articles that stick out - their long treatment of the deepwater horizon accident and the chemical dispersants that were used in the cleanup, their decade-after-the-fact retrospective article on Gore vs. Bush, and a more recent article on the police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.
[1] Also the London Review of Books which is excellent for long form current events articles. Also book reviews.
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Open a valve that DOESNT go through a turbine? A dam should have something like that....
I think the only equivalent is the floodgates, but, they only work when the water level is at a certain height, and I think I've read that if you open them to a true flood point you damage the dam. Drilling a second tunnel just to let water out is probably not considered economical.
According to the article there are two control gates and a spillway. The control gates are used to regulate the water level and the spillway is used in an emergency.
I don't know if the control gates can drain the reservoir completely or they have some minimum level, but the article implies that there is some action that the Iraqi government could take:
> Last spring, the Iraqi government prepared by lowering the maximum water level in the reservoir, to ease severe pressure on the dam wall. This year, such a precaution could dramatically lessen the number of people at risk—to about three hundred and sixty-four thousand.
What isn't clear is whether the water level right now could be lowered immediately or the water level now is at a seasonal low point and the Iraqi government hasn't announced whether they'll spill water in the spring to keep it low.
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#28Stunning picture showing a portion of the huge amount of water behind, at 300 ft higher: http://www.globalconstructionreview.com/client_media/images/...
Haditha Dam seems to be similarly impressive:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Haditha,+Iraq/@34.2573113,...
I guess it doesn't have the same structural problems, related to a bad soil.
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#29The caption of a picture says the reservoir holds 11 billion cubic FEET, but the article earlier says METERS. That's a magnitude of difference.
Actually closer to two, 1m3 = 74ft3.
Re: A bigger problem than ISIS: The Mosul Dam is failing
#30The caption of a picture says the reservoir holds 11 billion cubic FEET, but the article earlier says METERS. That's a magnitude of difference.
I'm curious, were you calculating or using (or thinking about, had some train of thought about) this information or did you just happen to notice the mixed units? I mean because I can't picture either one or ten billion cubic feet of water so it's just a very large number to me and I wouldn't notice that difference.
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