“the chasms in the porous rock under the dam were getting bigger and more dangerous every day”
Well, who had the genius idea to build a dam over porous rock in the first place?
I believe it was Saddam Hussein...
IIRC, Saddam Hussein chose the build site for the dam based on the exhaustive engineering criteria of “it will look nice in that spot.” It turns out to be built on gypsum (I think). While we were there, the Army Corps of Engineers was pumping cement into the ground to firm it up. I guess it wasn’t enough.