Hole in California Dam Continues to Grow

By Team Writer / February 18, 2017

Tuesday, chunks of concrete flew off the nearly mile-long spillway, creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole on the tallest dam in the United States. The water flowing out of the hole quickly turned brown with mud as it consumed trees and soil before rejoining the main channel below in a massive confluence wave that sent up clouds of mist in the tree-lined canyon. Engineers don’t know what caused cave-in that is expected to keep growing until it reaches bedrock.

Key Takeaways:

  • Tuesday, chunks of concrete flew off the nearly mile-long spillway, creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole on the tallest dam in the United States.
  • The water flowing out of the hole quickly turned brown with mud as it consumed trees and soil before rejoining the main channel below in a massive confluence wave that sent up clouds of mist in the tree-lined canyon.
  • Located about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco, Oroville Lake is one of the largest man-made lakes in California and is a central piece of California’s government-run water delivery network, supplying water for agriculture in the Central Valley and residents and businesses in Southern California.

“Tuesday, chunks of concrete flew off the nearly mile-long spillway, creating a 200-foot-long, 30-foot-deep hole on the tallest dam in the United States.”

https://www.constructionequipment.com/hole-california-dam-continues-grow

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Team Writer