5 Dams That Failed Catastrophically

some of the most amazing marvels of engineering have always been dams these massive structures have served a number of amazing purposes from providing electricity to creating water supplies that support massive ecosystems and civilizations some of them are small simply adding a tiny bit of flare to a rugged landscape other times though these huge structures can be hundreds of feet tall and measure miles across one thing they all have in common is that they require massive strength to hold back the billions of gallons of water however when dams fail the damage done can be catastrophic not only costing billions of dollars but resulting in the loss of many lives from the united states to russia here are five catastrophic dam failures if you enjoyed this video be sure to subscribe to underworld for more just like it [Music] the teton dam was located in southeastern idaho about 15 miles from rexburg in the valley of the teton river the dam and its reservoir were the principal elements of the teton basin project as a way to control flooding as well as provide a source of hydroelectric power irrigation and drinking water construction on the dam reservoir and powerhouse began in 1972 and by november of 1975 the zoned earth-fill embankment was essentially complete with a structural height of 305 feet and a crest length of 3100 feet less than a year later on june 3rd 1976 two small seeps were observed at the downstream toe of the dam the problem was quickly dealt with and the rest of the dam was inspected at this time no further evidence of seepage was noted however only two days later in the early morning hours of june 5th 1976 another area of seepage was discovered exiting rock joints near the right abutment of the dam shortly after that the seepage became muddy and a sinkhole developed in the downstream slope water flow developed from the sinkhole and attempts to fill the void were unsuccessful finally as the flow continued to increase the embankment eventually breached at the dam crest leading to a catastrophic failure the resulting rapid release of the entire contents of the reservoir flooded five counties and undated over 300 square miles and traveled a distance of 155 miles investigations of the teton dam failure attributed the catastrophic failure to a series of design and construction flaws that were mostly related to the foundation treatment in addition another factor was the cracking of the dam's impervious core due to internal erosion initiated by hydraulic fracturing of the key trench fill material it was a disaster that resulted in the deaths of 11 people and 400 million dollars in damages lake dunlap is a reservoir on the guadalupe river near the town of new braunfels in guadalupe county texas the reservoir was formed in 1931 by the construction of a dam to provide hydroelectric power to the area the scenic lake serves as a venue for outdoor recreation that includes fishing and boating it has always been a great lake providing a number of uses and resources for the surrounding population on the morning of may 14 2019 the dam's 90-year-old middle spillway unexpectedly collapsed nearly draining the lake by the day's end luckily though this failure did not result in as much damage as other failures of this kind the dam itself was not large in comparison to many and only one spillway of the dam failed at more than one section given way the story could have ended much differently the guadalupe blanco river authority worked with lakeside residents who formed an engineering and technical committee it was determined that the failure of the spillway was simply due to the aging structural steel within the gate engineers and the texas water development board devised the solution to replace the spill gates not just at the dunlap dam but on other dams in the area that could be prone to flooding in late 2020 residents voted on and passed a bill that would help fund the creation of a new dam located in the country of brazil the bermadino dam was a tailings dam that was built in 1976 by the forteko mina rasau and was a large part of a mining operation as workers dug for iron ore when it was first built it was classified as a small structure with low risk of high potential damage there were even official statements made confirming the safety and validity of the structure claiming that the venture was duly licensed however things were not as they seemed to be in the public eye on january 25th 2019 the dam suffered a catastrophic failure as the water broke free the dam released a mud flow that advanced throughout the mines offices including a cafeteria during lunch time in addition the mud filled in houses farms inns and roads downstream no matter where people wanted to hide there was no way of escaping hiding inside was futile climbing to a higher place was only suitable if it was a hill or something made of earth anything man-made and tall was in serious danger of falling the dam failure released around 12 million cubic meters of tailings according to experts the metals and the tailings will likely be incorporated into the river's soil and could go on to affect the region's whole ecosystem according to some environmentalists the waste stream could also reach neighboring rivers which pass through four other brazilian states this would spell disaster for villages who rely on the rivers for their food and water as well as serious economic disaster located approximately 40 miles northwest of los angeles california the saint francis dam was a curved concrete gravity dam constructed between 1924 and 1926 in order to provide a storage reservoir for the los angeles aqueduct system it was only the second concrete dam of nine dams built by the los angeles bureau of waterworks and supply the structure itself was massive stretching to a height of 205 feet and it spanned 700 feet along its crest however even though it was a monstrous undertaking and an incredible achievement it would not be long lived in 1928 saint francis dam suffered a catastrophic failure sending a wall of water roaring down the canyon the water carried debris boulders mud trees and anything else in its pathway in an unrelenting wave hundreds of houses bridges roads and other buildings were destroyed according to the california department of water resources the force of the water and debris was so powerful it twisted a stretch of railroad track between castaic junction and peru an estimated 37.5 square miles of farmland was swept away there were no warning systems for the residents of any towns downstream in the end 450 people lost their lives much of the disaster is blamed on the work of los angeles chief water engineer william mulholland there were reports from residents and workers near the dam including dam keeper tony figure that there were problems from the start they all called mulholland to the side to inspect the structure however he would never report any damage it was only a few hours after the last safety inspection that the dam gave away the sayano shushinskaya hydroelectric power station is located on the yenisei river before the accident it was the largest hydroelectric power station in russia and the sixth largest hydroelectric power station in the world when measured by average power generation however from the day that it was built some of the turbines had been having trouble specifically turbine 2. throughout 1980 to 1983 numerous problems with seals turbine shaft vibrations and bearings surfaced it brought about the complete reconditioning of the turbine however the troubles didn't stop at 8 13 am on august 17 2009 two massive explosions rocked the hall security guard alexander khatyatsev told english language news station rt that he was one level below the turbine hall when he heard a loud thump and then another one like an explosion and then the room went pitch black turbine 2 a 1500 ton piece of machinery topped by a power generator blasted through the floor and shot 50 feet into the air before crashing back down the pen stock water that had been spinning in the turbine geysered out of the now vacant shaft at a rate of sixty seven thousand six hundred gallons per second like a massive industrial water jet it tore down the metal joists over turbine one two and three the roof there crumpled like aluminum foil and collapsed in a tangle of glass and metal turbine two vibrated at four times the maximum limit as the control system decreased the turbine's output on the morning of august 17th the vibrations increased the unit acted like the engine of an automobile being downshifted on a hill shuttering violently and stressing the fatigued metal pins holding it in place lmz the saint petersburg metal works that manufactured the plant's turbines gave the units a 30-year service life turbine 2's age on august 17th was 29 years 10 months investigators determined that the power failure after the initial explosion had knocked out the safety system that should have shut down the plant and a malfunction turned into a catastrophe after all was said and done many people lost their lives the damage was quickly assessed and eventually repaired hopefully nothing like this ever happens again yes dams are some of the most incredible and powerful structures ever built by men not only do they provide some incredibly important resources and energy they are massive and strong it is also because of their massive and strong statures that they are incredibly dangerous if they decide to fail hopefully more attention is paid to the crumbling conditions of our structures to see more videos like this one click the link on screen now and with that thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next one

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Keywords: Underworld, Underworld channel, Top 10, Top 5, Facts, viral, recent discoveries, mystery, scary, 2021, massive dam failures, dam failure, dam burst, out of control water, dunlap dam, dam collapse, dam failures, dam failures caught on camera, caught on camera, caught on tape, moments you wouldnt believe, 5 massive dam failures caught on camera, enginerring mistakes, expensive mistakes

Id: u1sxvBdEUQI

Length: 10min 43sec (643 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 12 2021