Who’s to Blame for the Mosul Dam’s Failures?
The Mosul Dam was completed in 1984 amidst a nationwide Iraqi push for an increase in water infrastructure. In one of the most arid regions of the world, the dam would supply water for irrigation to thousands of Iraqi citizens. At the time, it stood for the modernization of Iraq that Saddam Hussein strived for; however, today the Mosul Dam is known for its deadly potential. Constructed on loose, soluble foundations, the dam has been cited by American geotechnical engineers as dangerously close to rupturing. A failure of the Mosul Dam would release eight billion cubic meters of water, kill close to two million people, and displace millions more. Whereas most coverage of the dam focuses on its inevitably
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However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that this is far from true. Beginning in 1950, more than ten organizations and companies were involved in conducting in depth surveys and studies of the Tigris River in attempts to identify an ideal location for a large dam. These included internationally recognized bodies such as the Swiss Consultants Consortium and the International Board of Dams (IBD). Despite the presence of karstified limestone and gypsum (an undesirable geologic formation that allows water to leak into its pores), the companies advocated for the construction of the dam in several locations, all within one kilometer of one another. Furthermore, they recommended using a construction technique by which grout is used to fill in any pores or cracks in the natural foundation. This wasn’t a farfetched idea, as similar ideas had been successfully implemented, especially in the Soviet Union. The Iraqi Government even asked a Soviet company to evaluate the location. Everyone seemed to agree that a dam, when properly constructed, would thrive in a place like
After the Roosevelt Dam dammed the Salt River in 1911, the bed that formed in its place has become a garbage-infested hole stretching through a large potion of the valley. In 1966 a group of architecture students at ASU first proposed the idea of the Rio Salado Project to a community-wide audience. It was approved by the legislature in 1980 and extensive planning has been underway since. The project will take 26 miles of the dry river bed, fill it in with purified wastewater, and make it into a 7,000-acre park over the next 2 decades (Rio Salado Development District 1).
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s article, “Benefit of Dams” (2012) analyzes how dams prevent flooding by releasing the excess water in controlled amounts through floodgates (¶ 3).
The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.
The film “When the Levees Broke” of spike lee is a four part series covering the events that took place before and after the devastation of Katrina on New Orleans and its residents. In August 2005, New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina. People were unprepared for the disaster. As the city was flooding, levees safeguard failed the city, which caused the city to go underwater. In the film, part 1 shows hurricane Katrina and it’s impact. The flooding, rescue efforts and people trying to survive the disaster. Part 2 shows the aftermath with people that were evacuated waiting for help to come to the city. It was a very slow response to help and everyone was just waiting. Part 3 shows how people started to recover. Many hoped to return to their
...ouse also. In Indonesia, corruption is widely present. The organization may request a sum of money from the government to solve the flooding issue, although, the leaders of the IFPP could possibly choose to pocket the money for their own use, instead of properly solving the flood issue in Solo. Due to corruption, the money remaining wouldn’t be able to be suffice for the construction, therefore they have to minimize the use of resources which could lead into a weaker dam, or they have to build a smaller dam which couldn’t decrease the flood levels as much. Although problems like corruption is there, the dam system would be an effective method because the flood levels are getting controlled, and the hydrological power would be able to be supplied to the people, therefore slowly covering their costs, and resulting into a highly effective method for the people of Solo.
Grand Coulee Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam on the Columbia River in Washington State, built by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser It is among the most famous dams in the United States. The reservoir it created is called the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake. The reservoir is named after the United States President who seemed to love dams and hydroelectric power and who was involved with the project through to the final completion of the dam. The dam was built as part of the Columbia Basin Project as a way to irrigate the desert areas of the Northwest United States. The dam started during the 1930s as a public works project and finished toward the beginning of World War Two. The initial construction plan was reconfigured during construction for more height. Its height was determined by the point at which the water from the reservoir began backing up into Canada. The scope and size of the dam is hard to comprehend. It is over a mile long and taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza, in fact, all the pyramids at Giza can fit within the base of the Grand Coulee Dam. The dam is so large that a truck at the base looks like a toy, this creates some perspective into the dam's true size. When the dam was completed in the early 1940s it was the largest dam in the world.
The catastrophic damage left by Hurricane Katrina resulted in the majority of New Orleans being engulfed in water with countless other complications. Katrina, despite being a level five hurricane, did not cause the flood but rather the levees breaching due to the water overtopping from the meteorological event. The reason for the levee breach was the fact that they were not built for a case like Hurricane Katrina even though they should have been. The levees were built to withstand level 3s and below but Katrina scored a 5 making the structure insufficient to face the storm (11 Facts About Hurricane Katrina). The Army Corp of Engineers were the people responsible for the construction of the site, maintenance and inspection so it goes without saying that they deserve the majority of the responsibility even though it was a matter of chance. The unsatisfactory endeavors by the Army Corp of Engineers prior to this event made the floods possible thus each one gave its own weight on
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
Based on the events that lead to the devastating floods in Queensland and the eventual case that was brought against the engineers of the dam, there have been views from both sides of the divide as to whether or not the actions taken by the engineers were actually ethical or otherwise. We have explored this avenue and have found that both sides of the divide have good reasons to justify their actions. Firstly, we shall explore the avenue that the engineers decisions were appropriate and ethical. It can be said that the engineers did employ act utilitarianism in their decisions and actions, hence causing these decisions to be ethically correct. Act utilitarianism is essentially doing the right thing, which would benefit the majority of people, based on the situation that is currently taking place. One of the reasons that explains why the actions taken could be considered as ethically fine, was that if the dam was not opened, there would have been no other way to solve the increasing water levels in the dam. If no action was taken, there could have been seriously devastating effects, like the dam wall eroding due to water spilling over the dam wall, thus weakening the structure, or a loss of water flow control. Professor Hubert Chanson, a professor in hydraulic engineering in the University of Queensland, mentioned that the Wivenhoe Dam was actually designed as an embankment dam, hence it should not be overtopped, that is water should not be allowed to flow over the limits of the dam (Andersen 2011). Despite there being a secondary spillway, however it is recommended that spillway is not put to use, as the use of that spillway would mean that there would be a surge of water leaving the dam, and a loss of control of the water flow, w...
Dams made from dirt are very weak and the South Fork dam was built entirely with dirt. From an engineering standpoint dams made with dirt needed to be built ...
...ementation of diverting the Colorado River, provisioning the men and material to get the job done, and constructing the dam are great examples of how an effective construction management team can get things done no matter the scale or complexity of work. The crude cloth hats soaked in tar worn by some of the workers led the construction management team to equip all of the individuals working on the project with hardhats. This decision led to a sharp decrease in fatalities due to falling objects. When the dam was dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on September 30th, 1935 he quoted Julius Ceaser by stating,” I came, I saw I conquered”, which was very fitting for this great accomplishment of American knowhow and resourcefulness. Many dams have since surpassed the Hoover Dam in size and output, but the Hoover Dam will forever have a place in history.
John Stuart Mill explores the order of pleasures throughout the second chapter (“What Utilitarianism Is”) of his master ethical composition, Utilitarianism. When determining the quality of two pleasures, Mill firmly asserts that the superior pleasure is distinguished by the “decided preference” of those who have experienced both (8). Mill expands on this claim in subsequent paragraphs, contending that one finds greater pleasure in increasingly intellectual activities. In summation, Mill claims that (I.) usually, intellectual pleasures are higher in order than base pleasures, and (II.) a more intelligent person can access superior pleasures than a person of lower faculties. I will also explore the permanence and ephemerality of superior and
Zanskar Valley is having a decline in rainfall due to climate change which is leaving them short on clean water, causing a good deal of health related illnesses and causing many people to relocate to somewhere with plenty of clean water (Document C). Coastal area's population is increasing even though sea levels are rising. This is causing more lives to be in danger when a natural disaster occurs along the coast (Document D). Many places have been taking precautions to insure their safety, including, Southern U.S. states by building retaining walls to keep water out of their cities. Chennai, India was in major need of a retaining wall when two rivers overflowed causing an extreme flood to arise in their city. 1,000 people were injured and 280 were killed because of this flood due to heavy rains (Document E). Many humans don't have the ability to relocate or choose not to and risk getting injured or killed because of flooding, storms or other disasters, these problems need to be fixed before plants and animals face the destruction as
... although we may never be able to understand exactly what soil failures can occur when a natural disasters take place, as time goes on and testing instruments and materials advance we will hopefully have a better understanding of what we can do to avoid soil failures and come up with a better and more sufficient method of improving the soils structure and strength permanently. While researching the information for this report I feel I have a much better understanding for construction geo-technics and foundations especially regarding the deformation, liquefaction and pile information related to this specific event. I hope to carry the information I have learned from this event into the construction field and apply them towards an authentic project that’s taking place and know that the information, regarding soils, I have given input on will be precise and accurate.
The paragraphs below will prove that the construction and presence of dams always has and will continue to leave devastating effects on the environment around them. Firstly, to understand the thesis people must know what dams are. A dam is a barrier built across a water course to hold back or control water flow. Dams are classified as either storage, diversion or detention. As you could probably notice from it's name, storage dams are created to collect or hold water for periods of time when there is a surplus supply.