The slabs of concrete were not thick enough to handle the pounding from the water. It looks like California wanted to get by with the least amount of material to scam the tax payers.
Ultimately, I think that’s right. The scale of this thing is amazing. Maybe it was just a liiiiiitle underengineered ... just to save, you know, a coupla million ... and now ...
It appears to be unreinforced concrete, that just seems insane to me in a state with that much seismic activity.
Concrete cracks, plain and simple, then you put that much water over cracked concrete and this is a fairly obvious result. Especially if fill washed out under the spillway over years and the unreinforced, cracked concrete was spanning over voids.
“It looks like California wanted to get by with the least amount of material to scam the tax payers.”
Give me a break, the dam was built 50 years ago.
My thoughts too - they put a pretty facade on a ornament instead of building it to do the job.