Discussion > The Oroville Dam
Oroville Update 7 June More Blasting, First Pour
00:00 blasting
01:00 photo gallery
01:30 1st June - siren test
02:00 media conference call
08:00 6th June chat ...
08:30 31st May ? - flyover, water dropping 12"/day
11:30 6th June - flyover
12:50 ... construction work
17:15 scale model
17:50 more blasting
19:15 blasting, in slow motion
20:15 5th june - flyover (diggers)
20:50 ... pouring concrete
21.39 6th june - flyover (more diggers!)
22:38 photo gallery
23:10 the end
Robert Christopher
clipe
Suspicion is running high among residents near the troubled Oroville Dam after state legislators approved a measure to make dam emergency plans secret, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
...
The political climate is worsening for the embattled Department of Water Resources as state legislators “voted to make dam-safety plans secret through language that was quietly inserted into a budget-related bill,” according to the Sacramento Bee. The reason for keeping the plans secret is cited as “public safety.”
“The legislation, which [still] requires Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature before becoming law, says emergency action plans at dams would be kept confidential to “protect public safety.”
Breitbart: New Bill Shrouds Oroville Dam Emergency Plans in Secrecy
Robert Christopher
Oroville Update 21 June It's Heating Up!
Effect of high ground temperatures on aircraft performance included.
clipe
clipe
The fire is not affecting the Oroville Dam repairs:
Oroville Special Update-The 'Wall' Fire 9 July
Robert Christopher
Robert Bea, a professor emeritus of engineering at UC Berkeley, said in his analysis of the causes of the spillway failure at the nation’s tallest dam that the “progressive deterioration” of the chute could have been prevented if proper procedures had been followed.
“The gated spillway was managed to failure” by the California Department of Water Resources and the Division of Safety of Dams and “regulated to failure” by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said Bea’s report, issued by the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management.
SFGate: Engineering expert blasts management failures at Oroville Dam
MercuryNews: Oroville Dam: After 10 years of delays on relicensing, 16 groups want more time
SacramentoBee: Catastrophic engineering expert asks: Is Oroville Dam leaking?
Commentary on the SacramentoBee article:
Engineering experts: Oroville dam could be in "SLOW MOTION CATASTROPHIC FAILURE"!
Robert Christopher
Robert Christopher
http://www.orovilledaminfo.com/
This website is an archive docking information the Public should have regarding
the nation's (USA) tallest dam in Oroville, CA, including past, present and current affairs.
clipe
clipe
The building work continues apace, and the political ramifications mature somewhat:
Oroville Mercury Register News:
Oroville City Council makes demands in letter to FERC
Robert Christopher
The building work continues apace but more information from the past is finding its way into the public domain:
MercuryNews: Oroville Dam: Lack of technology left officials in dark during crisis
Robert Christopher
Robert Christopher. It is not a case of "follow the money", more "who blocked the expenditure of any money?"
golf charlie
Sep 8, 2017 at 11:06 PM by golf charlie
I thought it more of a case of diverted money - to help 'diverted' people instead of diverting water. :)
Robert Christopher
Robert Christopher,
The technical reasons for the failure of the spillway have emerged, as Engineers have produced the reports going back decades, warning of problems.
IF it was known that the integrity of the spillway was compromised, and may fail if ever called into service, then decisions MAY have been made to keep the Lake level deliberately low, rather than spend money on reconstruction, with proper foundations.
Some repairs were carried out to the surface of the spillway, but they were simply "papering over the cracks" whilst failing to address the underlying problems.
California has diverted money into covering up their own financial mismanagement, and it seems Oroville has suffered the same fate. Far cheaper to blame Global Warming.
The failure of the spillway was not just "foreseeable", it was foreseen. Blaming an "Act of God", or "Global Warming" for the rain that filled the dam to overflowing, is a joke. The dam was designed with a spillway, and an emergency spillway, to cope with the possibility that flow in, would exceed flow out.
The emerging paper trail from Engineers demonstrates their warnings. Where is the paper trail of administrators ignoring the Engineers?
From a slightly different angle, who is paying the bills for the emergency repairs, and is it envisaged that those costs will be recovered from someone else, possibly after Civil or Criminal Legal Action?
golf charlie
Sep 9, 2017 at 1:02 PM by golf charlie
WashingtonTimes: California spent on high-speed rail and illegal immigrants, but ignored Oroville Dam
Monday, February 13, 2017
The flood danger from the Oroville Dam receded Monday, but California was hit by a wave of criticism for failing to heed warnings about risks to the spillway at a time when the state spent generously on illegal immigrants and high-speed rail.
California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, came under fire amid reports that federal and state officials for years rebuffed or ignored calls to fortify the massive 50-year-old dam, which provides water to more than 20 million farmers and residential consumers.
“What’s Governor Brown doing?” former state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Republican, asked in a Monday post on Facebook. “The same thing he’s been doing for decades — obstructing progress.”
A radio talk show host, Mr. Donnelly said California “has been so busy defying President Donald Trump in order to protect illegal aliens from deportation that it forgot to do the things government is supposed to do, like maintain infrastructure. Governor Brown is now going hat-in-hand to beg the Trump administration for emergency funds.”
I believe that Trump has released funds, though I don't know what fraction of the required amount it is or whether it is a gift or a forward advance.
Robert Christopher
I believe that Trump has released funds, though I don't know what fraction of the required amount it is or whether it is a gift or a forward advance.
Sep 9, 2017 at 7:57 PM | Robert Christopher
Or whether he won't seek to "recover his costs" from guilty parties. The State of California has gone very quiet on the matter, and it is good to know politicians are not interfering with the repairs.
golf charlie
Barring a major storm or equipment failure, Kiewit’s 700 workers and subcontractors are on track to finish pouring concrete on the main spillway by Nov. 1, Petersen said. That will give the surface a month to cure and be ready for use in December.
“I don’t want to jinx it, but we’re ahead of schedule,” Petersen told reporters during a tour of the jobsite Thursday.
ReviewJournal: Cost to fix Oroville Dam in California will top $500 million
Robert Christopher
Oct 23, 2017 at 10:17 PM | Robert Christopher
"State officials hope the Federal Emergency Management Agency will foot up to 75 percent of the repair bill, while the rest would likely be borne by State Water Project customers. FEMA has already reimbursed some costs for emergency response, but it’s unclear if the agency will fund the permanent repair work."
I am not sure that FEMA should be obliged to pay for rectifying bad political judgements, beyond the immediate emergency "repairs". Perhaps Trump's opinion might be sought.
"FEMA () mission is to support the citizens and first responders to promote that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards."
golf charlie
clipe
fyi
Looks like the saga might be lurching into another unhappy phase
The new concrete apparently is cracking up
Might be cosmetic I suppose....
tomo
I expect the cracks are being monitored as a matter of urgency. Unfortunately you can't "monitor" cracks urgently. Either they move, or they don't. If they do move, is it progressive?
If they don't move, how long do you wait before concluding that they have not moved, and won't move any further?
golf charlie
Hillary loving california
The District Attorney’s Office has said it would argue for Beebe to be sentenced to life in prison, saying his “prior extensive theft record and his predatory nature of taking advantage of the community during the emergency evacuation demand the most severe sentence to demonstrate that the Butte County community should remain free of such criminals.”
clipe
That was a mofo impressively large amount of NH4NO3/diesel they put into that hole. No half measures!