Posted on 08/21/2020 7:36:21 AM PDT by BeauBo
Water levels at China’s giant Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river are inching closer to their maximum after torrential rains raised inflows to a record high, official data showed on Friday.
With 75,000 cubic metres per second of water flowing in from the Yangtze river on Thursday, the reservoir’s depths reached 165.6 metres by Friday morning, up more than 2 metres overnight and almost 20 metres higher than the official warning level.
The maximum designed depth of China’s largest reservoir is 175 metres.
Authorities raised the discharge volume to a record 48,800 cubic metres per second on Thursday to try to lower water levels, and they might have to increase it again to avoid the possibility of a dangerous overflow.
“They will do everything they can to prevent the dam from overtopping,” said Desiree Tullos, a professor at Oregon State University who studies the Three Gorges project.
“An overtopping dam is a worst-case scenario because it produces significant damage... and can lead to the entire thing collapsing.”
Rainfall in the Yangtze basin has been well over double the seasonal average this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Yes, if you watch some of the Netizen reports from there, it is really tragic. But for us: Orange man bad.
Does not look good.
Prayers up for all those who are in the path of the raging waters.
Since your info comes from the Army Corps of Engineers I’d say it’s pretty reliable.
Were it coming from our intel agencies (who are rarely right about anything) I’d say an Irwin Allen movie is hours away.
Wow!
“the rains and flooding came just before the rice harvest, China’s main staple crop.”
Over a million hectares of crops were lost, and a total of six million hectares impacted, so far, just from this flooding.
Chinese agriculture has also been hit hard by simultaneous disasters, like African Swine Flu, and drought in the North East wheat crop.
bkmk
American engineers over-engineer their specs.
Chinese engineers go to spec but the suppliers cut material to minimums so watch out. Teach your chickens to swim.
Yeah I know you’re not in danger - from the Yangtze at least.
NOBODY wants to see the Three Gorges fail. Supposedly they’ve evacuated four million plus but to where?
Wuhan may be in the threat area?
Still in the rainy season. Since I didn’t tell you in particular, I can’t say I told you so but they were topping out logistically before the rainy season a month ago.
Crops and lives at huge risk.
They are already at maximum outflow. All 11 gates are opened. Reuters is incompetent.
Been following this for weeks.....they are a MAX outflow.
Couldn’t see that one coming, eh?
Japan taking over Korea and Manchuria was at least ostensibly because of the rise in population during the Meiji/Taisho eras, from 30 to 60 million--and that occurred because Japan was influenced by a combination of Christianity and industrialization to allow the population to rise. The attempt to take over China was an ego thing; the Japanese didn't need any of that area for their population. The burgeoning military needed oil which they could only get by invading the East Indies, and that was the reason for Pearl Harbor, Wake, and the Philippines, to convince the US not to intervene. That didn't work, of course.
Japan, like most colonialists, didn't know when to quit. The same thing might be true of China, or might not.
“that dam is tougher than a lot of us thought.”
That dam is a gravity dam, so its own weight should naturally resist the water pressure behind it. Supposedly a fail-safe design.
There are a few possible failure modes:
1. Over-topping and scouring. The water level rises to the top of the dam, and then flows over like a waterfall, that digs away the river bed on the backside, until the dam slides into the hole. That would take a truly horrific amount of rain, which still seems unlikely at this point (but getting to be less of a stretch, as the peak levels have been rising through this season’s floods).
2. Defective construction and/or design. There were reports of this early in the construction. Kind of a wild card. Made in China.
3. Around the sides/through the locks. If water spills around the side(s), the erosion could undermine the structure and lead to greater failure, kind of like the scouring from over-topping. Another weak spot might be the two great locks for shipping on the North side.
The down river cities are already under 3 feet of water. The crops are toast. Corruption has left their grain reserves very low. Dogs and cats living together:-/
Sure does remind you of what is going on in NYC, Portland and CA.
Leaders create mandates and The People have to deal with the results.
Then when things start to fall apart, they blame others for their choices.
“ A concrete dam, not likely.”
Factor in Chinese material and a Chinese labor force.
Thanks.
Well of course its a shoddy day. It was made in China.
Ancient Chinese Sakrete!
I've been keeping an eye on it, too.
I'm kinda surprised the thing is still holding.
Yes, you MUST release more water from behind the dam BEFORE the surge from upriver from the rains reaches the dam itself - there is always a delay. But once the rain falls, you can only time the delay. You CANNOT stop it!
That said, lake capacity-per-foot-of-height is always slightly greater the higher the lake levels rises because all lake valleys are wider and longer as the lake level rises - that helps. 167 meters to 175 meters is a pretty larger distance, but the spillways should be releasing at their maximum rate now if they are not already. Yes, there will be damage downstream from the higher waters, certainly higher than what was promised when the dam was being “sold” to the country.
Those “promises” of reduced flooding and saved lives downstream were made by the Communist government by its Communist engineers for the glory and power of their Communist leader-dictators. What could possibly have gone wrong - other than the twice-higher-rainfall levels this year?
But global warming was to bring droughts and deserts everywhere, wasn’t it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.