7 thoughts on “Castles in the Sand/ Dams on the Karst”
I read that it was Very Bad when DAESH took over and the Mosul dam maintenance stopped. It's so much worse than I could imagine:
“I went to visit the site and saw what kind of stone there was there. A lot of gypsum and anhydrite, which are very soluble…"
Ho…Lee…
“We used to have 300 people working 24 hours in three shifts but very few of these workers have come back. There are perhaps 30 people there now,”
Shit…
At the same time as the bedrock is getting weaker and more porous, the water pressure on the dam is building as spring meltwater flows into the reservoir behind it. Giant gates that would normally be used to ease the pressure by allowing water to run through are stuck.
Augh, the bedrock is Calcium Sulfate! Anhydrous, but not for long. No respectable engineering concern would ever suggest building a huge reservoir dam on such a thing. I think those Swiss consultants saw that fistful of dollars and went all in. If those guys are still around I'd recommend retiring to Argentina and taking a new name, because when this thing does go they will be accessories to mass murder.
I read that it was Very Bad when DAESH took over and the Mosul dam maintenance stopped. It's so much worse than I could imagine:
“I went to visit the site and saw what kind of stone there was there. A lot of gypsum and anhydrite, which are very soluble…"
Ho…Lee…
“We used to have 300 people working 24 hours in three shifts but very few of these workers have come back. There are perhaps 30 people there now,”
Shit…
At the same time as the bedrock is getting weaker and more porous, the water pressure on the dam is building as spring meltwater flows into the reservoir behind it. Giant gates that would normally be used to ease the pressure by allowing water to run through are stuck.
Balls. Can you say "Worst-Case Scenario?
So we're basically looking at upwards of half a million people dying and it could happen at any moment. This is going to be awful.
Thanks, Obama.
The Congressional "Special Investigative Committee on Obama's Mosul Dam Catastrophe" hearings will be brutal. And televised.
Hell, even Pertreus knew the dam was doomed.
As if the Iraqis haven't suffered enough. Fuck.
Augh, the bedrock is Calcium Sulfate! Anhydrous, but not for long. No respectable engineering concern would ever suggest building a huge reservoir dam on such a thing. I think those Swiss consultants saw that fistful of dollars and went all in. If those guys are still around I'd recommend retiring to Argentina and taking a new name, because when this thing does go they will be accessories to mass murder.