uknews/whaleybridge dam collapse town evacuated as danger to life warning issued

Renationalising the water companies would have no effect on this dam. It was never owned by any water company in the first place. It is owned by a private and charitable body, the Canal and Waterways Trust. The dam does not supply potable or sewage water to anybody, it exists to keep the water levels of the nearby canal up.

In other words, this is NOTHING to do with the government, or water companies or the privatization thereof.

The damage was initially to the slipway, undoubtedly caused by a lack of maintainence (just look at all the weeds, and even a few small trees growing in the cracks between the concrete slabs). Once the slipway slabs were damaged, the torrential flow of the water started washing out the clay core of the dam.

The RAF and the ACE (Army Corps of Engineers) and other stuctural engineers are trying to protect the clay core by laying sandbags on top of it to try and stop more from being washed out. This is not intended to be a permanent fix, just a temporary measure until the water level recedes enough to get in with a permanent fix.

Those people on the walkway you complained about, were not onlookers, but actual engineers, trying to assess the damage, and the risks, and come up with a rescue plan.

Sadly the dam was built in the 1830's, before a need for emergency drainage methods was realised, as such the only method of draining this dam, is
1) Natural evaporation (not helping much since it keeps raining)
2) Overspill (which is not really preferable as the spillway is damaged)
3) Electric pumps - Currently there are a significant number of "offduty" fire tenders on site, using their pumps to try and pump the water out.
4) 5 small sluice gates.

Regarding the 5 small sluice gates, they have been opened to full, however if one news report is to be believed, some idiots got onsite overnight while the engineers and other workers were asleep, and closed the sluice gates. Not only did they close them, they chained them closed with pretty substantial chains, forcing the engineers to waste time anglegrinding the chains to re-open them this morning.

I've seen comments in other media, about how stupid it was to build a village so close to the dam. Except, the village existed long before the dam was built. So really the argument should be the other way around. It was stupid to build a major dam and reservoir with an extant village downstream of it.

a reply to: BMorris

Good post. Some interesting stuff there.

a reply to: astra001uk

Lack of Tory funding on upkeep me thinks.

And that Dam is not the only thing falling apart nor held together with spit and tape.

Truth is the whole entire shebang is teetering on the brink and ready to fall apart.

originally posted by: RoScoLaz5
i thought there'd be problems because of the non-stop rain we've had over the last few days. terrible weather

You should head south mate, we've had record-breaking temperatures down here in the Channel Islands, lol 😎

Hopefully the dam survives, I've seen footage of those things collapsing and it's not pretty for those in the way.

🍻

a reply to: BMorris

Thank you for your informative post I believe it is actually owned by the Canal and River trust which was the waterway trust and before that British waterways which was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom that was founded in 1962 Who knows how many owners before that!
I am surprised to learn that this is not the first time this type of damage has happened at this dam This is taken from wiki: High rainfall levels resulted in damage to the dam’s spillway in December 1964.The damage was repaired in 1965, but flood studies judged the spillway to be inadequate.[1] As a result in 1971 a new concrete spillway was added to the centre of the dam.
In the 1980s, British Waterways carried out significant repair works to the dam to deal with leaks involving the mining shafts located around the dam. This resulted in a culvert being constructed under the current beach/launching area for the reservoir. A stone marker could be seen on the main beach showing the location of this for many years, but was relocated to the footpath opposite Toddbrook Lodge during access work for the 2009 draining.
It was known that the local coal mining industry had been a challenge for the dam's integrity for many years. The original builders were forced to purchase a block of coal below the dam in situ in order to ensure its mining did not cause structural issues.
The reservoir was also partially drained in 2009 for re-alignment works on the dam, and then again in 2010.
Would it not have been beyond the engineers to have used drones to see how dangerous the breaking up of the slipway really was did they really have to stand in the way of such danger? or maybe it isnt as dangerous as the public are being told and if that is true why evacuate the village

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: astra001uk

Lack of Tory funding on upkeep me thinks.

And that Dam is not the only thing falling apart nor held together with spit and tape.

Truth is the whole entire shebang is teetering on the brink and ready to fall apart.

How do you type stuff like that and keep a straight face? The underlying structure of the damn wall in question is over a century old - but yeah, must be a tory issue - right? Read the post by BMorris, then read again, and tell yourself it's best to read something that someone who knows what they are talking about has provided before jumping in with the usual mantra.

Sometimes your comments make a Mel Gibson screenplay seem plausible.

a reply to: uncommitted

Exactly. To some folk, everything is Thatcher's fault.

a reply to: uncommitted

Sorry, i missed most of that.

Possibly worth considering the collapse comes after years of a Tory austerity programs

That saw significant cuts to spending on flood defenses in almost all parts of the country.

But im to busy penning away Mr Gibson's racist mince i suppose.

Its a problem for 6,455 people at least, and whos running the gooberment?

Tories.

Either way, whoever's problem is, probably something they want to get fixed, now away and learn some manners halftard. x

a reply to: andy06shake

Do ye no ken that this dam is nothing to do with the Govt, Tory or otherwise? It's owned by the Canal and Waterways Trust. No evil Tories involved.

a reply to: andy06shake

Possibly worth considering the collapse comes after years of a Tory austerity programs

Not worth considering at all considering that it has nothing to do with the dam 'cos it is not maintained by the Govt. Please take off your political blinkers!

a reply to: oldcarpy

I know homes and possibly lifes are in danger down probably down to cuts in flood defence.

Who funds these "Canal and Waterways Trust"?

Why was the place not regularly surveyed?

What the bet there a score of evil Tories on the board of this "Canal and Waterways Trust"?

Who is responsible if not the government?

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: uncommitted

Sorry, i missed most of that.

Possibly worth considering the collapse comes after years of a Tory austerity programs

That saw significant cuts to spending on flood defenses in almost all parts of the country.

But im to busy penning away Mr Gibson's racist mince i suppose.

Its a problem for 6,455 people at least, and whos running the gooberment?

Tories.

Either way, whoever's problem is, probably something they want to get fixed, now away and learn some manners halftard. x

No, you are talking rubbish. It's nothing to do with any government of the last century, why is that so hard to understand? The manners piece really sits with you, talk nonsense and expect to get pulled up on it.

a reply to: oldcarpy

Yes, crap like this just happens.

If the thing was antiquated, then it should have been looked at and regularly maintained.

Who is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the structure?

Because if its the "Canal and Waterways Trust" im apt to wonder who runs that place?

a reply to: andy06shake

Who funds these "Canal and Waterways Trust"?

It's a charitable trust?

Who is responsible if not the government?

The Trust?

What the bet there a score of evil Tories on the board of this "Canal and Waterways Trust"?

Oh, FFS

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: oldcarpy

I know homes and possibly lifes are in danger down probably down to cuts in flood defence.

Who funds these "Canal and Waterways Trust"?

Why was the place not regularly surveyed?

What the bet there a score of evil Tories on the board of this "Canal and Waterways Trust"?

Who is responsible if not the government?

I live within 30 mins drive of this particular site - have you noticed no one apart from you, on the media or anywhere is blaming any government for this? Sheesh, tiresome.

a reply to: uncommitted

Aye, it just fell down nobody's fault really.

Certainly not a government who instituted significant cuts to spending on flood defenses.

Crap just happens i guess, could never have seen that one coming.

a reply to: uncommitted

Are you sure?

voxpoliticalonline.com...

skwawkbox.org...

Might not be your ""Daily Fail"", but they are someone. LoL

a reply to: andy06shake

Aye, it just fell down nobody's fault really.

It hasn't fallen down. You made that bit up.

Crap just happens i guess, could never have seen that one coming

Crap does indeed happen but - newsflash - not all crap that happens is automatically the fault of evil Tory austerity.

I read that the damage was due to extreme water run off. Do you have any evidence that this is actually even due to any lack of maintenance or upkeep or did you just make that up too?

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: uncommitted

Are you sure?

voxpoliticalonline.com...

skwawkbox.org...

Might not be your ""Daily Fail"", but they are someone. LoL

Certainly not the Daily Fail. It's even worse. Notable lack of any actual facts in that joke of an article. And he calls himself a journalist?

a reply to: andy06shake

And more spending on flood defences would have prevented this how?