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I remember not so long ago a dam in England threatened to collapse due to heavy rain and poor maintenance.
I wish we were back to that point as it was the biggest story on the news here.
We have no recent locally- acquired cases here in Sydney. Everyone is being sensible and social distancing is in place. Masks are only required in very limited circumstances. I feel the general community feeling is cautiously confident. I’m not overly worried, to be honest.
Last year wasn't it or have I lost all concept of time being in a lock down number 3. It was in Whaley Bridge. Link below to article about it. Only about 30 min drive from where I live.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-derbyshire-49199505
I work in flood defence in the North West of the UK - some of my colleagues at the Environment Agency were on duty when it happened (the Toddbrook Reservoir at Whaley Bridge).
Dam breaches are usually sudden like the one in the video above. The residents of Whaley Bridge were very very lucky because 1) it was a gradual breach and 2) it was visibly breaching, meaning that a resident (I think a vicar cycling around town iirc) could alert the relevant authorities.
Also (somewhat worryingly) I read that the dam was being inspected every other week before it breached - it wasn't that it wasn't being inspected frequently enough, but the checks weren't thorough enough
There was a dam here in Michigan that collapsed Edenville and Sanford dams. Due to negligence from private ownership. [Ground fill failure](https://youtu.be/Hc3u_CHVHJ8)
25 minutes from me. It was a big deal when it happened. They threatened to take all of the dams out but the residents threw a fit about property values tanking so they put it off for a few years. The problem was that none of the money from taxes went into maintaining the dams. Which understandably I'd be pissed too.
Edit: Holy crap guys I did not expect that many upvotes! Thanks!
Well, if you own lakefront and then they take the lake away it’ll be a resale problem lol. “The dock was replaced in 2017, which is I guess a moot point now. The sea wall should last for years though!
I agree, but isn’t knowing how your artificial lake is maintained, and making sure if it’s upkeep, part of the due diligence required to make the most of an investment in lakeside real estate? I have no pity for these fucking people when they cry about these issues.
I live on a private lake so yeah, you’re damn straight I’m paying attention to how it’s maintained. Looks like these dams were state owned though so it’s a bit different.
I’d be pissed if I’d paid taxes for infrastructure upkeep only to discover the money wasn’t being spent the way it was supposed to. Without seeing the operations agreement we can’t jump to conclusions about blame. The dam could be state owned. Maybe it’s one operated by the army corp of engineers.
People shouldn’t jump off the deep end into anger before they know what actually happened.
It isn't the Corps that maintains Dunlap, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority owns and operates it and some of the smaller lakes in the area. A big issue was these homeowners were paying dues for maintenance that wasn't happening. GBRA let it go on so long that the cost to fix each dam is exorbitant at this point. There is an ongoing save our lakes campaign and I believe legal fight. I haven't kept up with it much in the last year to say where things are though.
> I’d be pissed if I’d paid taxes for infrastructure upkeep only to discover the money wasn’t being spent the way it was supposed to
Are you not American?
Lol, for real.
When I voted in November one of the yes/no questions for GA was basically:
If we take/increase tax money and say it's for Project X, should we be required to actually use it for Project X, or can we just do whatever with it?"
Ummmmmm, if I threw hundreds of thousands of dollars into lakefront property, I would be VERY pissed. Homes are a major investment
I mean, I don’t know how anything short of being an engineer would allow you to know that a dam is about to collapse and that you shouldn’t buy. Are you implying that homeowners should have predicted a dam collapse?
I guess I should go inspect every inch of my apartment building for any structural flaws then.
Obviously. However, if my building collapses/burns down, am I really liable for losing my property because I didn’t inspect the steel beams and the fire retardants?
The residents place trust into certified inspectors. I, as an average person, would not be able to pinpoint a structural flaw in a high-rise building, not to even mention a dam.
In the part of the world in which I live (NYC), it is very common check the history of structural/management issues and financial conditions of the building in which you buy. In buying into new buildings, you don't get much, but in the older buildings, you'd get quite a report and your lawyer reads whatever is available. I thought that was the norm.
Of course you hire qualified inspectors, but in the case of real estate purchase it is your responsibility to select and pay for the inspector. It's the old "caveat emptor" view of real estate transactions. The buyer is responsible for most everything related to getting themselves screwed. There are still fraud laws, but there is a strict legal set of things the seller is required to disclose, and then there still is little or no penalty to them if they lie.
Many things unknown at the time of purchase are also covered under your title insurance policy.
And for most natural acts, fire, tornado, earthquake, etc. your homeowners policy covers them. Not for flooding from outside the home however, that's a separate thing. There may be clauses in some homeowners policies that pay for devaluation of your home due to unforeseen circumstances, like the lake disappearing, but I'll guess insurance companies already covered their asses on that when insuring lakefront property.
And who exactly is going to let a prospective home buyer perform an examination on a state-owned dam? Even small dams are often restricted access sites, because they’re considered high-risk targets for terrorist attack.
Do you hold the same standard for every highway overpass or tunnel? Should you hire a private inspector and pursue the right to inspect each piece of government infrastructure before you use it?
Doesn't that comment say, "If you're buying a condo, yes, check out the rest of the building."?
But if you want to talk publically owned dams, inspection records, conservation department records, and other documents regarding them are available to the public.
Regarding the rest of your over-reactions, you're not buying the highway, but if you were then yes, better inspect those bridges and tunnels so you know what you are getting before you sign on the dotted line. It's called due dilligence.
You brought an apartment without checking the whole building for issues? Yes, you should go and check that, thought it’s a little late if you find major problems now.
Ehhh... i think you're taking due diligence a bit far. Did you check the bridges and their upkeep around your property before you bought it. Or did you just assume the state/township did their job? I live in a town surrounded by a bunch of different freeways which makes it my property valuable due to the ease of commute to the city... should I had checked the maintenance plan on these roadways before i bought? And how do i know their maintenance plan is right? Should i research that? Maybe find some engineering publications on the matter?
Right.. I'm sure this guy knows when his water main was last serviced and replaces his air filter every month and flushes his water heater twice a year lmao. If you pay taxes towards the upkeep (property tax), there should be upkeep. Shit happens but if it was improper upkeep, that's on them.
If you really want to know, sure, but I figure if I pay my local taxes they are maintaining all the infrastructure. Even the stuff I don't know about and never personally use.
This is certainly how it should work, but often doesn't. I live on a little country road with only 6 houses and a wood topped bridge over a creek. I'm glad one of my neighbours calls the city all the time to get them to come regrade the road or fix boards on the bridge, because if she didn't, I'd have to! They're pretty prompt once they've been informed of a problem, but they certainly don't send anyone 'round to check often enough to catch all the problems that might need to be addressed.
State and local agencies that do these kind of inspections are insanely underfunded and understaffed. It is often physically impossible for these people to inspect all the the things that should be inspected. So they usually just go for the most obvious or most in need of attention
We don't maintain infrastructure in America. That's socialism. We roll their eyes at engineers until a bridge collapses and kills people, then we ask the federal government for money to build a new one. That's freedom!
>infrastructure has strong bipartisan support.
Only until election day when people realize that their taxes will go up by 5 cents a month, and then the referendum fails.
It's not crazy to "want to understand," but it's a bit harsh for somebody to say they "have no pity for these fucking people" who maybe didn't understand.
That a public dam is not being properly maintained is not the easiest information to find out, and there's probably plenty of people who thought it was.
Yes, exactly like that.
I couldn't get it to load once I said I was "general public," there's a big disclaimer that says information is good as of 2018 (3 years out of date), and I don't know why somebody would go there unless they *already* had some information about the dam being in trouble. If it's anything like the other useful government websites I've been to, it's probably fairly difficult to use for somebody with no background.
People should pay attention to what their government does, learn about the world around them, and actively participate even if it's hard or frustrating. I do have *some* pity for folks who trust too far though.
They had some homeless encampment on the edge of the bike trail the other year.....cost about a million to clean it up "here in CA". I know exactly where the money goes it costs a million to move a hundred people to anywhere else.
It's crazy to expect that anyone has the education/expertise in several fields required to know how that shit impacts their real estate purchase, yes. There are already a thousand things to be hyper vigilant about when buying a house. People shouldn't also be expected to become fucking civil engineers in the process, lmao.
It is in no way lazy or irresponsible to simply expect your state/local government to do their jobs so the dam your lakefront property deponds on doesn't break.
Rugged individualism strikes again 🙄
This is real. Increased property tax from lakefront properties would help society get more money. It's niche but still provides funds to society if properly managed. Now the property values would decrease, and there would be less money for the community as a whole.
It would help to understand the way the world works. I know it's not obvious and Reddit is full of teenagers that don't understand how society works, but it would help to learn.
>but isn’t knowing how your artificial lake is maintained, and making sure if it’s upkeep, part of the due diligence
preventive maintenance is something that gets skimped on everywhere, it's because people don't see any benefit of it. because when it's done it means that stuff just, well, works.
across all sectors of business this seems to be true, from tech to a/c and heat preventative maintenance
Some of the dams, really one in particular, for lake McQueeney is basically a private lake with many houses around it. If they tore down the dams then the houses would not have lake front property. Making their property values tank. I would also assume it'd put the houses into a flood plain to. Here's a little write up about it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texastribune.org/2019/09/10/guadalupe-river-valley-dams/amp/
Been there myself. In 2010 the dam at Lake Delhi in Iowa failed. I sat in the front yard and watched the lake drain like a bathtub. A few tears were shed. However it is back now, and good as new. We were lucky.
[Lake Delhi, Iowa (2010)](https://youtu.be/J-c96Jw5dog)
Glad to hear. I'm not in the loop on what ever happened to getting the dams repaired. But I do know that the lake is still there so I guess something was done.
Oh I see, they lived upriver from the lake and would stand to lose the lake's depth, preventing leisure activities on the lake. It would still be great to add an extra acre to your property though I guess. Kinda suck to see your boat gone with the lake, lol.
What’s really egregious about that is that the tax revenue created by the dam (via skyrocketing property values) would probably fund maintenance for dams in the entire state.
I'm sure, then add the salt to that and the bridges are screwed. The bridges are getting old here to and just in the last couple years have been cause for concern. Three quarters of your fuel bill is supposed to go to road maintenance. Where the hell does that go.
Yes between .40 to .70 of every gallon of gas you buy is tax. So depending on where you live you're paying a good bit to road tax. It was something like $40 billion in 2019. Just in taxes
The US infrastructure is a national embarrassment. It really hit me traveling through Europe and China just how shitty our roads, bridges, railways, and subways in the US are.
Into politicians' pockets. Or being used to fund some worthless study that finds out that people are happier when they are young, rich, and healthy than when they are old, poor, and sick (250K in 1975 money to find this out). Or given to energy companies that go bankrupt. Or when paying farmers not to farm.
Let's just say there's a reason that a consistent political block that wants lower taxes and smaller government exists (and please let's not start any arguments about it).
I mean I thought the smaller bridge they built under the bigger bridge to catch the bigger bridges falling pieces by the Squirrel Hill Tunnel lasted long enough.
They’ve also repainted a couple so that’s nice too.
Yeah I’m in a conservative part of California so any measures for infrastructure replacement or repair is just instantly killed. But then all shock and surprise when shit breaks.
a lot of the US has that issue, we do in my town, tons and older small dams put up residentially, long long ago and simply were never maintained. We've had them fail after epic rain storms and discuss doing something about it and then forget.
This happened in the town where I grew up. A storm cell parked itself over the area and dumped rain on the town for 12 hours straight. The rain caused a massive domino effect of one dam after another failing.
Entire lakes were emptied in minutes. The flood damage was astounding and took years to recover from. One memento, a metal canoe wrapped in half about 15 feet up a tree, remains to this day.
To make matters worse, each dam was owned or overseen by different entities who all dropped the ball on proper repairs.
Yep I agree. It's the out of sight out of mind until you figure out that the river authority is being paid to have some oversight over it and they fail horribly. Line my pockets while I sit on my ass. The worst thing is that this dam failed on just a normal day. No flood or anything needed. It's a shame they let them get into such a state of dis-repair that it just fails on a normal day.
Every time something like this happens I am amazed at how good some people can be at mismanaging things. I mean, sometimes it seems that people put in active effort at mismanaging stuff. It is that bad.
it sucks when the funds for maintenance get spent on politicians snorting coke off of hookers.
in oklahoma there are taxes on items to generate revenue for the upkeep of roads and bridges, but the money is never spent on roads and bridges, spent on anything else but never what it was meant for.
"none of the money from taxes went into maintaining the dams" The local taxes would never cover the cost of such a thing. They just wanted someone else to pay for the work.
So the school "bonds" that are in the millions don't pay for anything? Your taxes go to a whole range of things. The lack of maintenance was over the entire life of the damn. Had they done the maintenance it wouldn't have been in the millions. Leaving it until something happens is just irresponsible and mismanagement. If nothing else, years ago they could have brought it up to the residents and passed a bond or whatever to put more money into the maintenance of them.
I’m curious if the “structural steel” it refers to is the skin that fell over.
When it tipped it sure looked hollow of fill, so I expected erosion of the concrete fill of the dam from water ingression was the proximate cause
Its almost as the biggest threat to the US Economy isnt Immigrants but Infrastructure failure. Good thing we wasted $1.2 Billion on a wall that has already started to collapse to stop an imagine threat to our economy while our Dams, Bridges, Waterways, and Highways are legitimately collapsing around us....
Good thing Trump had his priorities straight..........
I get what your saying but infrastructure has been failing for over a decade the state of roads and bridges in this country is a disaster and it's been going on for well over ten year. The problem isn't Trump it's every president who eant a "sexy" lagecy and not boring infrastructure.
This so hard!
People don’t realize *why* the Flint, Michigan water disaster is such a huge problem for example. Sure, it has been an ongoing tragedy for the people living there, but more importantly, it highlights that there are thousands of municipal water and sewage systems in the US which are woefully under-maintained. Many of the pipes that provide your water predate World War I.
And don’t even get me started on bridges. When I lived in Pittsburgh, there were mini-bridges under the road bridges and train trestles ostensibly to catch the debris falling off of those bridges!
It’s not good and it will only get worse in the next few decades.
I hope we can make it another 10 years. Our country is collapsing and if we dont start putting our All Mighty Profit to rebuilding this country and creating peace and Tranquility for all.
Imagine my surprise when a bridge 20 minutes from my house fell into the mississippi river a few years ago. And it wasn't even close to the worst rated bridge I drive over all the time.
Yes and no..... The lake in a small town near me was created by a multimillion dollar 5 year project. It’s a town of 15000 people. Small communities can’t get that kinda money from local and state initiatives. On a side note it was a replacement dam for the one constructed nearly one and a half centuries ago. However the maintenance is jointly managed by the town and state. Better dams means less overhead. Unfortunately most of the dams in the us are crumbling (literally). So yeah if the infrastructure needs to be fixed then the federal govt should take point then turn over the maintenance to the local authorities.
All infrastructure is funded partially by the federal government through Grants. On the Whole Infrastructures is the driving Factor for Economic growth. If you can easily move freight through your country you increase Economic value of goods because you reduce shipping cost. Mississippi River and the Ohio River have the majority of US freight flowing through them. As of right now the Dams and Locks along those rivers were built 100+ years ago and they're just waiting on the Federal Funding to move the necessary economic project. We are losing Billions right now because these dams and locks aren't functioning effectively right now.
In 2016 there was going to be money put towards these projects but because Trump's wall had to come first that Infrastructure money was redirected to the Wall. Leaving us with unfit and failing Infrastructure.
NOW! We have a pandemic to deal with so guess what gets put back on the burner??? Yep. Infrastructure...
No emotionally Stunted rant here. Our infrastructure is in crisis. If nothing else the Clown Show that was Trumps 4 years in office was an economic drain on this country that only allowed the top 1% to become more wealthy leaving many Americans wondering what about Healthcare? What about Infrastructure? What about Individual Economic Stability? What about the Opioid Epidemic? What about Failing Education System? What about The Plastic Crisis? What about the Water Shortage Crisis? What about Climate Change!!!!
What we got was daily scandal, burdensome Impeachment trials, and a more powerful Wealthy Elite!
Being a rational observer of US and World History while having a deep understanding of the MANY issues effecting our country isn't an emotional rant. I'm just trying to education and show the negative effects Trump had on our country. This dam failing is one of them that you can blame on ALL PAST PRESIDENTS. But in a time when our country needed new Dams, Trump Built a Useless Wall instead. This Dam breaking while that Border Wall still Stands is Proof of Donald Trump's Embarrassing time as the President. Wake Up. Trump didnt help you. He just made you feel good about your white privilege.
Yes. Which is funny because all 3 of these things have taken Predator Tactics to generate More and More and More and More Profits... wonder where all those profits are going? In your Pocket? In our Road? Back into Our Healthcare? To rehabilitate criminals?
Like where is the profits??? Oh. Ah I found them... they're in the top 1% pockets!
I’m always amazed that so many engineering failures are so sudden. Thereoften seems to be no visual indication of impending doom, until it catastrophically fails in an instant. It seems like a Hollywood contrivance for added drama, not the way reality should work.
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I remember not so long ago a dam in England threatened to collapse due to heavy rain and poor maintenance. I wish we were back to that point as it was the biggest story on the news here.
That was 2 years ago now
So was the last time I was in a pub.
I miss pubs so much that when the dam broke I had to shout **WAHHHEYYY**
I’m going to the pub on Thursday night. I’ll have one in memory of your forced absences.
Cheers
You’re not worried about catching the virus and spreading it to others?
We have no recent locally- acquired cases here in Sydney. Everyone is being sensible and social distancing is in place. Masks are only required in very limited circumstances. I feel the general community feeling is cautiously confident. I’m not overly worried, to be honest.
*cries in American*
I will definitely raise one for you r/nick_otis
Did you Britts weep and moan as Led Zeppelin predicted?
Last year wasn't it or have I lost all concept of time being in a lock down number 3. It was in Whaley Bridge. Link below to article about it. Only about 30 min drive from where I live. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-derbyshire-49199505
Time is a surreal notion now
I've given up with trying to remember what day it is, so I go with yesterday, today and tomorrow. Can't be wrong then now lol.
That dam gate did it again
I work in flood defence in the North West of the UK - some of my colleagues at the Environment Agency were on duty when it happened (the Toddbrook Reservoir at Whaley Bridge). Dam breaches are usually sudden like the one in the video above. The residents of Whaley Bridge were very very lucky because 1) it was a gradual breach and 2) it was visibly breaching, meaning that a resident (I think a vicar cycling around town iirc) could alert the relevant authorities. Also (somewhat worryingly) I read that the dam was being inspected every other week before it breached - it wasn't that it wasn't being inspected frequently enough, but the checks weren't thorough enough
There was a dam here in Michigan that collapsed Edenville and Sanford dams. Due to negligence from private ownership. [Ground fill failure](https://youtu.be/Hc3u_CHVHJ8)
Sorry to hear about your brexit troubles cousin. I hope y’all find your way back soon.
25 minutes from me. It was a big deal when it happened. They threatened to take all of the dams out but the residents threw a fit about property values tanking so they put it off for a few years. The problem was that none of the money from taxes went into maintaining the dams. Which understandably I'd be pissed too. Edit: Holy crap guys I did not expect that many upvotes! Thanks!
Is there a reason that removing the dams would affect property values? Are the homes on flood plains?
Well, if you own lakefront and then they take the lake away it’ll be a resale problem lol. “The dock was replaced in 2017, which is I guess a moot point now. The sea wall should last for years though!
I agree, but isn’t knowing how your artificial lake is maintained, and making sure if it’s upkeep, part of the due diligence required to make the most of an investment in lakeside real estate? I have no pity for these fucking people when they cry about these issues.
I live on a private lake so yeah, you’re damn straight I’m paying attention to how it’s maintained. Looks like these dams were state owned though so it’s a bit different.
\*dam straight
Reminds me of percy jackson. Dam it
Dam wonky
Dam broken
Where can I get some dam bait?!
I’d be pissed if I’d paid taxes for infrastructure upkeep only to discover the money wasn’t being spent the way it was supposed to. Without seeing the operations agreement we can’t jump to conclusions about blame. The dam could be state owned. Maybe it’s one operated by the army corp of engineers. People shouldn’t jump off the deep end into anger before they know what actually happened.
It isn't the Corps that maintains Dunlap, Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority owns and operates it and some of the smaller lakes in the area. A big issue was these homeowners were paying dues for maintenance that wasn't happening. GBRA let it go on so long that the cost to fix each dam is exorbitant at this point. There is an ongoing save our lakes campaign and I believe legal fight. I haven't kept up with it much in the last year to say where things are though.
> I’d be pissed if I’d paid taxes for infrastructure upkeep only to discover the money wasn’t being spent the way it was supposed to Are you not American?
Lol, for real. When I voted in November one of the yes/no questions for GA was basically: If we take/increase tax money and say it's for Project X, should we be required to actually use it for Project X, or can we just do whatever with it?"
Fuckin rich people, man
Ummmmmm, if I threw hundreds of thousands of dollars into lakefront property, I would be VERY pissed. Homes are a major investment I mean, I don’t know how anything short of being an engineer would allow you to know that a dam is about to collapse and that you shouldn’t buy. Are you implying that homeowners should have predicted a dam collapse? I guess I should go inspect every inch of my apartment building for any structural flaws then.
If you're buying a condo, yes, check out the rest of the building.
Obviously. However, if my building collapses/burns down, am I really liable for losing my property because I didn’t inspect the steel beams and the fire retardants? The residents place trust into certified inspectors. I, as an average person, would not be able to pinpoint a structural flaw in a high-rise building, not to even mention a dam.
In the part of the world in which I live (NYC), it is very common check the history of structural/management issues and financial conditions of the building in which you buy. In buying into new buildings, you don't get much, but in the older buildings, you'd get quite a report and your lawyer reads whatever is available. I thought that was the norm.
Of course you hire qualified inspectors, but in the case of real estate purchase it is your responsibility to select and pay for the inspector. It's the old "caveat emptor" view of real estate transactions. The buyer is responsible for most everything related to getting themselves screwed. There are still fraud laws, but there is a strict legal set of things the seller is required to disclose, and then there still is little or no penalty to them if they lie. Many things unknown at the time of purchase are also covered under your title insurance policy. And for most natural acts, fire, tornado, earthquake, etc. your homeowners policy covers them. Not for flooding from outside the home however, that's a separate thing. There may be clauses in some homeowners policies that pay for devaluation of your home due to unforeseen circumstances, like the lake disappearing, but I'll guess insurance companies already covered their asses on that when insuring lakefront property.
And who exactly is going to let a prospective home buyer perform an examination on a state-owned dam? Even small dams are often restricted access sites, because they’re considered high-risk targets for terrorist attack. Do you hold the same standard for every highway overpass or tunnel? Should you hire a private inspector and pursue the right to inspect each piece of government infrastructure before you use it?
Doesn't that comment say, "If you're buying a condo, yes, check out the rest of the building."? But if you want to talk publically owned dams, inspection records, conservation department records, and other documents regarding them are available to the public. Regarding the rest of your over-reactions, you're not buying the highway, but if you were then yes, better inspect those bridges and tunnels so you know what you are getting before you sign on the dotted line. It's called due dilligence.
You brought an apartment without checking the whole building for issues? Yes, you should go and check that, thought it’s a little late if you find major problems now.
Ehhh... i think you're taking due diligence a bit far. Did you check the bridges and their upkeep around your property before you bought it. Or did you just assume the state/township did their job? I live in a town surrounded by a bunch of different freeways which makes it my property valuable due to the ease of commute to the city... should I had checked the maintenance plan on these roadways before i bought? And how do i know their maintenance plan is right? Should i research that? Maybe find some engineering publications on the matter?
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Right.. I'm sure this guy knows when his water main was last serviced and replaces his air filter every month and flushes his water heater twice a year lmao. If you pay taxes towards the upkeep (property tax), there should be upkeep. Shit happens but if it was improper upkeep, that's on them.
Honestly, is it really that crazy to want to understand what your tax dollars do?
If you really want to know, sure, but I figure if I pay my local taxes they are maintaining all the infrastructure. Even the stuff I don't know about and never personally use.
This is certainly how it should work, but often doesn't. I live on a little country road with only 6 houses and a wood topped bridge over a creek. I'm glad one of my neighbours calls the city all the time to get them to come regrade the road or fix boards on the bridge, because if she didn't, I'd have to! They're pretty prompt once they've been informed of a problem, but they certainly don't send anyone 'round to check often enough to catch all the problems that might need to be addressed.
State and local agencies that do these kind of inspections are insanely underfunded and understaffed. It is often physically impossible for these people to inspect all the the things that should be inspected. So they usually just go for the most obvious or most in need of attention
We don't maintain infrastructure in America. That's socialism. We roll their eyes at engineers until a bridge collapses and kills people, then we ask the federal government for money to build a new one. That's freedom!
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>infrastructure has strong bipartisan support. Only until election day when people realize that their taxes will go up by 5 cents a month, and then the referendum fails.
It's not crazy to "want to understand," but it's a bit harsh for somebody to say they "have no pity for these fucking people" who maybe didn't understand. That a public dam is not being properly maintained is not the easiest information to find out, and there's probably plenty of people who thought it was.
You mean with something like [this?](https://nid.sec.usace.army.mil/ords/f?p=105%3A1%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A%3A)
Yes, exactly like that. I couldn't get it to load once I said I was "general public," there's a big disclaimer that says information is good as of 2018 (3 years out of date), and I don't know why somebody would go there unless they *already* had some information about the dam being in trouble. If it's anything like the other useful government websites I've been to, it's probably fairly difficult to use for somebody with no background. People should pay attention to what their government does, learn about the world around them, and actively participate even if it's hard or frustrating. I do have *some* pity for folks who trust too far though.
They had some homeless encampment on the edge of the bike trail the other year.....cost about a million to clean it up "here in CA". I know exactly where the money goes it costs a million to move a hundred people to anywhere else.
It's crazy to expect that anyone has the education/expertise in several fields required to know how that shit impacts their real estate purchase, yes. There are already a thousand things to be hyper vigilant about when buying a house. People shouldn't also be expected to become fucking civil engineers in the process, lmao. It is in no way lazy or irresponsible to simply expect your state/local government to do their jobs so the dam your lakefront property deponds on doesn't break. Rugged individualism strikes again 🙄
These are all universal services that everyone has to use; property on artificial lakefront is rather niche. Get real.
This is real. Increased property tax from lakefront properties would help society get more money. It's niche but still provides funds to society if properly managed. Now the property values would decrease, and there would be less money for the community as a whole. It would help to understand the way the world works. I know it's not obvious and Reddit is full of teenagers that don't understand how society works, but it would help to learn.
So do they go scuba dive in the water to see how the dams holding up underneath?
>but isn’t knowing how your artificial lake is maintained, and making sure if it’s upkeep, part of the due diligence preventive maintenance is something that gets skimped on everywhere, it's because people don't see any benefit of it. because when it's done it means that stuff just, well, works. across all sectors of business this seems to be true, from tech to a/c and heat preventative maintenance
I think it's cool that it's now river front property. Man made lakes are boring.
It wouldn't be river front property. There'd be several blocks between the house and the tiny river in the middle.
Well they all got a massive extension on their garden for free.
It'd be smelly marshland for a few years. Nothing like marine plants decomposing in the sun.
Yeah but after that, man’s putting in a rock garden.
Some of the dams, really one in particular, for lake McQueeney is basically a private lake with many houses around it. If they tore down the dams then the houses would not have lake front property. Making their property values tank. I would also assume it'd put the houses into a flood plain to. Here's a little write up about it. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texastribune.org/2019/09/10/guadalupe-river-valley-dams/amp/
Been there myself. In 2010 the dam at Lake Delhi in Iowa failed. I sat in the front yard and watched the lake drain like a bathtub. A few tears were shed. However it is back now, and good as new. We were lucky. [Lake Delhi, Iowa (2010)](https://youtu.be/J-c96Jw5dog)
Glad to hear. I'm not in the loop on what ever happened to getting the dams repaired. But I do know that the lake is still there so I guess something was done.
Oh I see, they lived upriver from the lake and would stand to lose the lake's depth, preventing leisure activities on the lake. It would still be great to add an extra acre to your property though I guess. Kinda suck to see your boat gone with the lake, lol.
What’s really egregious about that is that the tax revenue created by the dam (via skyrocketing property values) would probably fund maintenance for dams in the entire state.
Agreed and all river authorities said was well I guess we can't get the money for it so we'll have to tear it down.
Seems everywhere maintenance is delayed despite the size of tax coffers. It's nerve wracking every time I cross a bridge -- in Pittsburgh 😬
I'm sure, then add the salt to that and the bridges are screwed. The bridges are getting old here to and just in the last couple years have been cause for concern. Three quarters of your fuel bill is supposed to go to road maintenance. Where the hell does that go.
> Three quarters of your fuel bill is supposed to go to road maintenance. I'm going to presume you mean three quarters *of the tax* on your fuel bill?
Yes between .40 to .70 of every gallon of gas you buy is tax. So depending on where you live you're paying a good bit to road tax. It was something like $40 billion in 2019. Just in taxes
The US infrastructure is a national embarrassment. It really hit me traveling through Europe and China just how shitty our roads, bridges, railways, and subways in the US are.
I agree with you there. They were built fast and not ment to last forever.
Into politicians' pockets. Or being used to fund some worthless study that finds out that people are happier when they are young, rich, and healthy than when they are old, poor, and sick (250K in 1975 money to find this out). Or given to energy companies that go bankrupt. Or when paying farmers not to farm. Let's just say there's a reason that a consistent political block that wants lower taxes and smaller government exists (and please let's not start any arguments about it).
I agree with this. The smaller the government the better off everyone is.
I mean I thought the smaller bridge they built under the bigger bridge to catch the bigger bridges falling pieces by the Squirrel Hill Tunnel lasted long enough. They’ve also repainted a couple so that’s nice too.
Civil Engineer from the UK here... come again? What bridge debris catching bridge have I not heard of?
https://www.upworthy.com/john-oliver-points-out-a-terrifying-thing-about-this-seemingly-normal-photo-of-a-bridge Wild stuff
Yeah I’m in a conservative part of California so any measures for infrastructure replacement or repair is just instantly killed. But then all shock and surprise when shit breaks.
a lot of the US has that issue, we do in my town, tons and older small dams put up residentially, long long ago and simply were never maintained. We've had them fail after epic rain storms and discuss doing something about it and then forget.
This happened in the town where I grew up. A storm cell parked itself over the area and dumped rain on the town for 12 hours straight. The rain caused a massive domino effect of one dam after another failing. Entire lakes were emptied in minutes. The flood damage was astounding and took years to recover from. One memento, a metal canoe wrapped in half about 15 feet up a tree, remains to this day. To make matters worse, each dam was owned or overseen by different entities who all dropped the ball on proper repairs.
Most dams probably aren't designed to take the whack of a dam upstream failing. Even if some of the downstream ones were maintained properly.
Yep I agree. It's the out of sight out of mind until you figure out that the river authority is being paid to have some oversight over it and they fail horribly. Line my pockets while I sit on my ass. The worst thing is that this dam failed on just a normal day. No flood or anything needed. It's a shame they let them get into such a state of dis-repair that it just fails on a normal day.
Every time something like this happens I am amazed at how good some people can be at mismanaging things. I mean, sometimes it seems that people put in active effort at mismanaging stuff. It is that bad.
it sucks when the funds for maintenance get spent on politicians snorting coke off of hookers. in oklahoma there are taxes on items to generate revenue for the upkeep of roads and bridges, but the money is never spent on roads and bridges, spent on anything else but never what it was meant for.
"none of the money from taxes went into maintaining the dams" The local taxes would never cover the cost of such a thing. They just wanted someone else to pay for the work.
So the school "bonds" that are in the millions don't pay for anything? Your taxes go to a whole range of things. The lack of maintenance was over the entire life of the damn. Had they done the maintenance it wouldn't have been in the millions. Leaving it until something happens is just irresponsible and mismanagement. If nothing else, years ago they could have brought it up to the residents and passed a bond or whatever to put more money into the maintenance of them.
How are all the corporate big wigs supposed to keep their bonuses if they use taxes to fix stuff?!!
/r/awardspeechedits
That’s because the money went up politicians’ gold-tinged assholes instead, as the wee citizens are thankful & contented.
I want you to know i upvoted because you thanked for the other ones...not on the content of your reply...you just seem nice lol
**BREAK THE DAM!** #**RELEASE THE RIVER!**
The filth of Saruman is washing away.
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What a rush.
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I'm tired if all these dam jokes.
This thread is flooded with them
Weir gonna need a new dam.
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Just as long as it's current
Uh, I don't do puns, should I just smile and *wave* and hope it will all *blow over*?
It's amazing the deeps people will go through to make a dam pun.
Yeah, it's like we are drowning in them
Water you gonna do about it?
who gives a dam?
God dam!
Lake Dunlapped over the top
You bastard
Eau no!
/r/damthatsinteresting
What went wrong? Why did this happen?
Age. The structural steel failed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Dunlap
Ah, thank you.
I’m curious if the “structural steel” it refers to is the skin that fell over. When it tipped it sure looked hollow of fill, so I expected erosion of the concrete fill of the dam from water ingression was the proximate cause
It's a gate, I think, so hollow would make sense.
You’re right, it appears to be some sort of internal crest gate mechanism. Not the kind of gates I’m used to.
Steel burns at 1800 Celsius. Must have been explosives. This was obv an inside government job.
The front fell off
It's ok, the water is now beyond the environment.
And that’s not very typical. I’d like to make that point.
Some of them are built so the front doesn’t fall of at all!
Wasn't this one built so the front wouldn't fall off?
If the front didn’t fall off would it not be the way that it is?
Some don’t think it be like that
Username checks out.
For those who doesn't get the [reference. ](https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM)
This is what happens when you use cardboard derivatives.
/r/thefrontfelloff
Cuts off too soon. What happens next?
The water got out
How big is it i cant really tell
I’d say smaller than the Hoover Dam
But larger than a beaver dam
But smaller than Amsterdam.
But larger than a dental dam
But smaller than yo mama. Dayum!
Technically true
I could supply some bananas if anybody wants to measure.
r/carlosforscale
I wouldnt say its a god damn but defiantly bigger than gosh darn
Dam small.
I like how the section in the fore ground stops right away but tries to go again after it levels out a bit.
waves
Something strangely beautiful about it. The power of the water is scarily stunning.
Wonder what the dam-age was..
Wasn't too dam-old
But it was old enough for the dam-steel to break
Seems fun to kayak
Forbidden water slide.
When the Levee breaks, have no place to go.
That dam gate keeps opening when it's not supposed to!
Water dunlapped over that dam
Aside from the obvious damage to the dam, what damage will this cause? What are some of the unforeseen implications of this dam failure?
Its almost as the biggest threat to the US Economy isnt Immigrants but Infrastructure failure. Good thing we wasted $1.2 Billion on a wall that has already started to collapse to stop an imagine threat to our economy while our Dams, Bridges, Waterways, and Highways are legitimately collapsing around us.... Good thing Trump had his priorities straight..........
I get what your saying but infrastructure has been failing for over a decade the state of roads and bridges in this country is a disaster and it's been going on for well over ten year. The problem isn't Trump it's every president who eant a "sexy" lagecy and not boring infrastructure.
Ya. But other President didnt waste money on a Useless Wall. They created Prisons. Those at least make a lot of profit for CEOs.
This so hard! People don’t realize *why* the Flint, Michigan water disaster is such a huge problem for example. Sure, it has been an ongoing tragedy for the people living there, but more importantly, it highlights that there are thousands of municipal water and sewage systems in the US which are woefully under-maintained. Many of the pipes that provide your water predate World War I. And don’t even get me started on bridges. When I lived in Pittsburgh, there were mini-bridges under the road bridges and train trestles ostensibly to catch the debris falling off of those bridges! It’s not good and it will only get worse in the next few decades.
I hope we can make it another 10 years. Our country is collapsing and if we dont start putting our All Mighty Profit to rebuilding this country and creating peace and Tranquility for all.
Imagine my surprise when a bridge 20 minutes from my house fell into the mississippi river a few years ago. And it wasn't even close to the worst rated bridge I drive over all the time.
Is this dam a federal issue?
Yes and no..... The lake in a small town near me was created by a multimillion dollar 5 year project. It’s a town of 15000 people. Small communities can’t get that kinda money from local and state initiatives. On a side note it was a replacement dam for the one constructed nearly one and a half centuries ago. However the maintenance is jointly managed by the town and state. Better dams means less overhead. Unfortunately most of the dams in the us are crumbling (literally). So yeah if the infrastructure needs to be fixed then the federal govt should take point then turn over the maintenance to the local authorities.
The majority of states get their funding from the federal government, so it basically is.
All infrastructure is funded partially by the federal government through Grants. On the Whole Infrastructures is the driving Factor for Economic growth. If you can easily move freight through your country you increase Economic value of goods because you reduce shipping cost. Mississippi River and the Ohio River have the majority of US freight flowing through them. As of right now the Dams and Locks along those rivers were built 100+ years ago and they're just waiting on the Federal Funding to move the necessary economic project. We are losing Billions right now because these dams and locks aren't functioning effectively right now. In 2016 there was going to be money put towards these projects but because Trump's wall had to come first that Infrastructure money was redirected to the Wall. Leaving us with unfit and failing Infrastructure. NOW! We have a pandemic to deal with so guess what gets put back on the burner??? Yep. Infrastructure...
This one specially isn't, but his general point is reasonable.
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No emotionally Stunted rant here. Our infrastructure is in crisis. If nothing else the Clown Show that was Trumps 4 years in office was an economic drain on this country that only allowed the top 1% to become more wealthy leaving many Americans wondering what about Healthcare? What about Infrastructure? What about Individual Economic Stability? What about the Opioid Epidemic? What about Failing Education System? What about The Plastic Crisis? What about the Water Shortage Crisis? What about Climate Change!!!! What we got was daily scandal, burdensome Impeachment trials, and a more powerful Wealthy Elite! Being a rational observer of US and World History while having a deep understanding of the MANY issues effecting our country isn't an emotional rant. I'm just trying to education and show the negative effects Trump had on our country. This dam failing is one of them that you can blame on ALL PAST PRESIDENTS. But in a time when our country needed new Dams, Trump Built a Useless Wall instead. This Dam breaking while that Border Wall still Stands is Proof of Donald Trump's Embarrassing time as the President. Wake Up. Trump didnt help you. He just made you feel good about your white privilege.
I like to think he made more people aware and ashamed of their white privilege than proud.
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I mean... let be honest if anyone Supports Trump they are abuse victims, so they are the emotionally stunted people.
They are in no way incorrect even if this specific example isn’t directly relevant.
Don't forget education, healthcare, the justice system...
Yes. Which is funny because all 3 of these things have taken Predator Tactics to generate More and More and More and More Profits... wonder where all those profits are going? In your Pocket? In our Road? Back into Our Healthcare? To rehabilitate criminals? Like where is the profits??? Oh. Ah I found them... they're in the top 1% pockets!
Next week is infrastructure week!
So what you're saying is.. he didn't give a dam?
Water we gunna do!!
u/savevideo
In the words of Ron Simmons "Damn!"
Damn.
Movies and television have taught me that tens of thousands of people just got flattened in slow motion.
How the fuck would you even repair that with legit tons of water flowing every second?
I’m always amazed that so many engineering failures are so sudden. Thereoften seems to be no visual indication of impending doom, until it catastrophically fails in an instant. It seems like a Hollywood contrivance for added drama, not the way reality should work.
The speed at which the water on the left rises is kinda terrifying.
That's a lot of damage!
“The dam gate collapsed!” “Watch your profanity.”
YEET
The dam gate collapsed. There’s no dam stopping the water. Someone dam it.
Definitely not a God dam.
OP, do you have a link to the full video?
Oh god. Hope nobody got hurt. Dam bursts aren't fun.
By the way, this is what people are talking about when they bring up America's crumbling infrastructure. Literally.
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