Mosul Dam Collapse Imminent, Could Be Deadly

reports this week; an engineer that worked on the Mosul (Iraq) Dam says is built on bad place and could go, which could kill thousands.

www.npr.org...


***In 2014, ISIS occupied the dam. And when they occupied the dam, all the engineers and workers, they run away and machines were destroyed. And even when they recaptured the dam, nobody has done any grouting.

Nadhir Al-Ansari says the government needs to put an evacuation plan in place for people who live in areas that would be flooded if the dam were breached. But that hasn't happened. This past week, authorities in Baghdad hired an Italian firm to start repairs again. But it's not a permanent solution. And the renovation project won't start right away. And as the snows melt this month, more water is flowing into the reservoir above the dam. It's left Nadhir Al-Ansari very, very concerned.***

www.theguardian.com...
"Iraqi engineers involved in building the Mosul dam 30 years ago have warned that the risk of its imminent collapse and the consequent death toll could be even worse than reported.

They pointed out that pressure on the dam’s compromised structure was building up rapidly as winter snows melted and more water flowed into the reservoir, bringing it up to its maximum capacity, while the sluice gates normally used to relieve that pressure were jammed shut.

The Iraqi engineers also said the failure to replace machinery or assemble a full workforce more than a year after Islamic State temporarily held the dam means that the chasms in the porous rock under the dam were getting bigger and more dangerous every day."

(hardly any US media is paying any attention to this)
I sure hope they fix this. source says an Italian company is contracting.

(if it goes, do you think they'll blame the US?)

a reply to: ElGoobero

It looks like they need to do something fast, a safety outflow valve of some sort??

a reply to: ElGoobero

Considering they cant fix political and social stability,

I doubt a dam is going to get any stability

I remember reading about this when ISIS was still holding that territory. But I assumed that the government got the engineers back in there as quickly as they could when the terrorists were run out.

In fact, I believed this potential catastrophe was one of the major reasons that the Iraqis fought so hard to reclaim the dam. And I hadn't heard anything for a while, so I haven't given it any more thought.

So now, due to lack of continuing maintenance, this dam may collapse and kill thousands. Not to mention the fact that Iraq is a desert country, so this will be a major loss of freshwater to the population.

I guess this is just another great example of how much better off the Iraqi people are now that they are no longer under the thumb of Saddam Hussein...NOT

-dex

We could send in the Army Corps of Engineers, but we're too busy bringing freedom to the Syrians at the moment...

a reply to: RadioRobert

No, Iraq doesn't want any US Military. But, I'm sure they don't have any problem with the US paying to send in Haliburton mercenary/engineers to work on it. Or whatever Haliburton is calling itself these days,

-dex

a reply to: DexterRiley

wow, this is a BIG problem, sounds like it is only a matter of time before the dam blows...think the usa mdia will pay more attention after the dam breaks......so not good

NOT, I agree. Very well said.a reply to: DexterRiley

Interesting comment from The National museum.


The most amazing thing is Ninevah's utter destruction was written about in the Bible in the book of Nahum. The Bible says Ninevah will be destroyed and never recover. Score 1 for GOD. How could the writer of Nahum who died perhaps thousands of years ago have known it would be destroyed and not recover . We rebuild great cities all the time...but Ninevah still lies in ruins today. Think about it!


Fox

It seems abit of a shame as One of the 7 wonders of Ancient ME was the Nineveh Hanging gardens this should be a priority for the Iraqi government to fix the Dam

Attack ISIS everywhere besides the floodzone of the dam give them a safe zone there and wait till gravity solves the problem

originally posted by: foxhound2459
Fox

It seems abit of a shame as One of the 7 wonders of Ancient ME was the Nineveh Hanging gardens this should be a priority for the Iraqi government to fix the Dam

I believe the Hanging Gardens were in Babylon?

Which I understand is rebuilt, but don't know how much.

originally posted by: ElGoobero

originally posted by: foxhound2459
Fox

It seems abit of a shame as One of the 7 wonders of Ancient ME was the Nineveh Hanging gardens this should be a priority for the Iraqi government to fix the Dam

I believe the Hanging Gardens were in Babylon?

Which I understand is rebuilt, but don't know how much.

I believe there is a new theory that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were actually located in Nineveh. Something about a bad translation. National Geographic

-dex

A simulation was done in the event of dam failure. link

CONCLUSIONS
The simplified dam break model SYMDBK was selected due to its simplicity and
efficiency to simulate and predict the flood wave of a hypothetical Mosul dam failure
at different failure scenarios. It was utilized to explore various aspects of the dam
break hazard evaluation and to compute characteristics of downstream flood wave of
Mosul dam failure. River channels geometry represented by cross-sections which are
obtained from topographic maps and satellite images to describe the width variations
of river channel and valley was fed to the SYMDBK using the GIS facilities. The
main findings demonstrate that an area of 252 km
2
along Tigris River between dam
site and Mosul city which was classified as very good agricultural lands and was
utilized by the villagers there will be flooded due to Mosul dam failure in the worst
failure scenario, the maximum flood depth at Mosul city will be 25 meter and the flood
elevation will be 235.2 meter above see level and the maximum flood discharge will
be (207632) m
3
/sec with an average flow velocity 3.5 m/sec. The flood wave will
cover about 54% of the Mosul city in which the areas of the eastern bank of the city
will be subjected to flood slightly more than the western bank. Finally, the time to
reach the maximum depth in Mosul city for the five scenarios of dam failure beginning
from the end of failed breach development was (8.74, 7.49, 6.58, 5.99 and 5.52) hours
respectively.

a reply to: smurfy
Correct, they need to open the flow gates to lower the water level on the dam, normally those have emergency controls so they can move them under no power conditions

I'm waiting to see if the three gorges dam will collapse, the Chinese (or Han, as they call themselves) are quite worried about it.

originally posted by: pikestaff
I'm waiting to see if the three gorges dam will collapse, the Chinese (or Han, as they call themselves) are quite worried about it.

OMG yes. that would be major catastrophe.

any word on vulnerabilities there?

a reply to: ElGooberoi don't know how big the damn is but couldnt they use portable pumps to pump water over the side? i used one to drain a whole water tower one afternoon and yes i am talkng about a city water tower not one like you would fing on top of a new york building

originally posted by: proteus33
a reply to: ElGooberoi don't know how big the damn is but couldnt they use portable pumps to pump water over the side? i used one to drain a whole water tower one afternoon and yes i am talkng about a city water tower not one like you would fing on top of a new york building

m not a ngineer; don't see why not.
would have to be pretty heavy-duty considering volume involved.

a reply to: ElGoobero

I am against dams in general. I do hope any people in danger are able to evacuated , but I hope it blows.

a reply to: KEACHI


A lot of beavers are looking for your scalp right now!

So, why are you against dams?

You hope it blows? You wish more catastrophe and loss on people than they already have?

Come on, explain yourself.