Oroville Dam Failure???

FITZH2O

Old Mossy Horns
I hope it holds. As much as I hate the dumb stuff that comes out of California, this could potentially devastate a lot of people initially and the loss of that water would hurt the farmers that rely on it.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
As a structural engineer I don't envy the guys staying up all night trying to determine if/when it's going to go.
 

shadycove

Twelve Pointer
We too will soon feel the pain of this, Oroville Lake flows into the Feather River and on to the Sacramento River which cuts thru 100+/- miles of some of the most productive farmland in the USA.
Grocery prices are headed up for sure and if that cut undermines the entire dam to the point that it fails, it could wipe out several large cities including Sacramento. Big trouble brewing for sure. Pray for them, they're gonna need it.
 
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chevync20

Twelve Pointer
It seems the evacuation was a little late in my opinion. Hard to move 200,000 residents and have them leave instantly. Hopefully everyone is safe.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Definitely an engineering and logistical nightmare for sure.

One has to think, with the outrageous tax burden imposed on CA citizens, how could Public works like this be so mismanaged?
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Looks like the flow is lessening so there wont be the flooding predicted.

the detail i read was a concern that the spillway would release more water than would stay in the banks of teh river downstream, not that the whole dan would fail.
 

mekanizm

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It seems they released water through the main spillway until they figured out they had a failure in it so they then shut it off and let the water build up and go over the emergency spillway but soon discovered that the overflow erosion was substantial and could/would eat back into the structure so they then let her rip back through the main spillway causing substantial damage to the spillway but not dangerous to the dam......I think. I did see one image where the erosion from the emergency spillway was rather impressive and would be a cause for concern. They are lowering it as fast as they can before the rains hit later this week.
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
It seems they released water through the main spillway until they figured out they had a failure in it so they then shut it off and let the water build up and go over the emergency spillway but soon discovered that the overflow erosion was substantial and could/would eat back into the structure so they then let her rip back through the main spillway causing substantial damage to the spillway but not dangerous to the dam......I think. I did see one image where the erosion from the emergency spillway was rather impressive and would be a cause for concern. They are lowering it as fast as they can before the rains hit later this week.

It's probably Trumps fault. He should have spent the wall money on reinforcing dams. ;)
 

hunter

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Definitely an engineering and logistical nightmare for sure.

One has to think, with the outrageous tax burden imposed on CA citizens, how could Public works like this be so mismanaged?

Rarely do we see a politician, of any stripe, spend money for maintenance....... It is always easy to kick the can down the road.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Hmmm...weren't these jackasses braying about wanting to secede from the union a few days ago? Now, all of a sudden, they need crap-tons of emergency federal assistance. The real shame is that its not happening right outside San Fran or LA.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
You know they will turn it into that...Fix the dam instead of the wall...

The wall was never getting built anyway, Mek. Not in any capacity. I give Trump another two months before he comes out with an amnesty plan.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
The DAM istself, the highest there is, is NOT in danger of failing. The Spillway is. The poeple downstream need to be moved. There are 3-4 more inches of rain coming in the next few days.
 

1SHOT1KILL

Old Mossy Horns
All the billions and billions of US citizen taxpayer dollars wasted on freebies, entitlements, and supporting tens of millions illegal immigrants instead of fixing things like this over the years is the root cause. CA has made their bed so let them lie in it. Unless there is a federal declaration of emergency, absolutely not one damn dollar of federal funds should be made available to CA at all. CA, and CA alone caused this problem so let them foot the bill for their created problem.

Only bad thing I can think of is RCBS is located in Oroville, CA and that may hurt the reloading industry for a while. But I see it as an opportunity for RCBS to pack up and get the hell out of CA, to a much more business friendly and defiantly a much more gun/shooting industry friendly state.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
All the billions and billions of US citizen taxpayer dollars wasted on freebies, entitlements, and supporting tens of millions illegal immigrants instead of fixing things like this over the years is the root cause. CA has made their bed so let them lie in it. Unless there is a federal declaration of emergency, absolutely not one damn dollar of federal funds should be made available to CA at all. CA, and CA alone caused this problem so let them foot the bill for their created problem.

Only bad thing I can think of is RCBS is located in Oroville, CA and that may hurt the reloading industry for a while. But I see it as an opportunity for RCBS to pack up and get the hell out of CA, to a much more business friendly and defiantly a much more gun/shooting industry friendly state.


here here,,,,,,,,can I get a HARUUMPH!
 

mekanizm

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Specifically the emergency spillway. The main spillway has substantial damage too but isn't eroding backwards like the erosion of the emergency spillway is doing. Any "dam" failure would involve the undermining of the emergency spillway and likely result in the uncontrolled dumping of 30 feet of lake water. From the looks of it that emergency spillway erosion is right at the point of catastrophe and they are doing all they can to lower the water by other means before the rains hit.
 

mekanizm

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
The wall was never getting built anyway, Mek. Not in any capacity. I give Trump another two months before he comes out with an amnesty plan.

I tend to believe that...and have from the beginning. Deporting 'law abiding' illegals so-to-speak simply isn't going to happen and I never expected it to. Sealing the border on the other hand will happen and it doesn't require a wall to do it. Some places like the middle of the Rio Grande pose challenges and in other places a good fence can do it. Above all, charge the Border Guards with doing their job as intended. The 'amnesty plan' will happen IMO and very well could be the centerpiece of getting the Republicans elected in '20.
 
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ellwoodjake

Twelve Pointer
Specifically the emergency spillway. The main spillway has substantial damage too but isn't eroding backwards like the erosion of the emergency spillway is doing. Any "dam" failure would involve the undermining of the emergency spillway and likely result in the uncontrolled dumping of 30 feet of lake water. From the looks of it that emergency spillway erosion is right at the point of catastrophe and they are doing all they can to lower the water by other means before the rains hit.

Who builds an emergency anything and doesn't test it to see if it will work. And then wait fifty years and think "hope this works"
 

FITZH2O

Old Mossy Horns
Who builds an emergency anything and doesn't test it to see if it will work. And then wait fifty years and think "hope this works"

I'm not sure there is a way to "test" the emergency spillway. Heck, best I can tell it is just the lowest spot water can flow out and away from the dam itself. I don't think it is actually something built, like the main spillway that is concrete.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I'm not sure there is a way to "test" the emergency spillway. Heck, best I can tell it is just the lowest spot water can flow out and away from the dam itself. I don't think it is actually something built, like the main spillway that is concrete.

That's correct. The only way to test the emergency spillway is to raise the water of the lake to emergency stage.
 
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