Enormous New Dam Fails In Brazil

New Scientist ^ | 7-10-2006

[blam]

Enormous new dam fails in Brazil

10 July 2006
From New Scientist Print Edition.

GIANT cracks have opened in one of the world's tallest dams, just months after completion. The cracks appeared after a tunnel collapsed on 20 June beneath the 200-metre-high Campos Novos dam in southern Brazil, and the reservoir rapidly emptied. At one point, 4000 cubic metres of water (more than enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool) were rushing downstream every second towards a second dam on the river Canoas.

"If this had happened during the rainy season, and the two reservoirs had been full, water would likely have poured over the lower dam and it might have been destroyed. That would have been a major disaster, with perhaps hundreds killed," says Patrick McCully of the International Rivers Network, a California-based group that campaigns against large dams. Between them, the two dams can hold more than 2 cubic kilometres of water.

The dam's owner, Enercan, a consortium of Brazilian power companies, has revealed little about the accident. It is reported to have been trying to patch holes in a leaking tunnel since October, before the second tunnel failed catastrophically last month.

[ClearCase_guy]

Just dam!

[Southack]

"GIANT cracks have opened in one of the world's tallest dams..."

Man, there is a Brazilian thong joke in there just waiting to pop out.

[redgolum]

Bad day

[martin_fierro]

[LdSentinal]

And they lose to France in the World Cup.

[alancarp]

Dang, how do you fix THAT?

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

The dimensions of an Olympic pool are required to be 25 metres by 50 metres.

According to the rules of FINA.org, an Olympic pool should be 50 m long by 8 times 2.5 meter lanes with 2.5m outside lanes 1 and 8 (so 10*2.5 = 25m) - minimum depth 2m.

[KS Flyover]

Here's a couple of larger photos of the dam:

http://www.irn.org/img/brazil_dams/campos_aerial1.jpg

http://www.irn.org/img/brazil_dams/campos_aerial2.jpg

[martin_fierro]

< |:)~

[spyone]

Tests will show that the contractor was trying to pad his margins by using substandard concrete. He needed to do this so he could pay the graft to the politicians who made sure he won the contract and still make a Tbill type return.

[Texas Songwriter]

Low bid. Always gets the gig. Think about that the next time you go over an overpass or a tall, tall bridge.

[REDWOOD99]

Clean up on aisle 5!

[Robert A Cook PE]

Dam.


Building simple structures is a matter, NOT of technology or government nor money nor bureaucracy, but of simple attention to details and quality.

Simple little things: you just have to pay attention to two million simple details all at once.


If it failed this way, it's also simple incompetence and/or corruption.

[SierraWasp]

"...says Patrick McCully of the International Rivers Network, a California-based group that campaigns against large dams."

Well, I'll be dammed! I figured it'd be "Fiends of the River," (no, wait... Friends of the River, Inc.) instead of this little known bunch trying to get support from the big corporate developers of whitewater rafting in CA!!!

[ArrogantBustard]

You don't.

[Cobra64]

Just dam!

Reminds me of a thread here about five years ago. It eas funny as hell.

[blam]

[jjr153]

Bush's Fault!!

[garjog]

"Dang, how do you fix THAT?"

Super glue?