by Bob Walsh
A section of spillway on the Oroville dam decided to go south for the winter today as they were lowering the water level in preparation for the ongoing storm fronts. Oroville dam is the tallest in the U. S. at something over 700 feet. The damage to the spillway is about 1/3 of the way down and covers almost the entire width of the spillway.
The DWR (Dept of Water Resources) says the dam is right now 20% below capacity and the spillway is now closed off. They are confident they can get the repair made in a few days and begin releases again. The dam itself is not damaged and is in no danger of failure.
I admit I will be interested in seeing some news footage of this repair. I can't imagine how they can do that sort of thing in a few days. I can't even imagine how they can get it set up in a few days. Which I guess is why I don't work for DWR.
1 comment:
FURTHER: Damaged section is about 135 feet wide, roughly 25 feet from lip to lip and about 30 feet deep. Since it is a spillway it is at a considerable angle. Just eyeballing it from the news footage I would guesstimate it is almost 45%.
Post a Comment