Dam Collapse on the News

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Old Dec 14, 2005 | 12:47 PM
  #16  
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"LESTERVILLE, Mo. -- Water poured through a breach at a hydroelectric plant's rural reservoir in southeast Missouri this morning, washing away an unknown number of homes and vehicles, authorities said.

The breach occurred about 5:30 a.m. in the upper of two reservoirs at AmerenUE's Taum Sauk Lake Hydroelectric Plant, AmerenUE officials said.

One person had been feared missing but was later accounted for, authorities said.
"

COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE
 
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Old Dec 14, 2005 | 10:57 PM
  #17  
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From: Lost some where in the middle of the Ozark Mountains!
huh???
I hadnt heard anything about it. Maybe there will be something on the 10 o'clock news.
Yep just heard the preview and tehy mentioned. Said something about how new regulations are going to be inplace now too.
 
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Old Dec 14, 2005 | 11:30 PM
  #18  
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PSS-Is that near you?
 
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Old Dec 14, 2005 | 11:33 PM
  #19  
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From: Lost some where in the middle of the Ozark Mountains!
Well my first thought was the New Madrid fault had slipped.

But they said on the news that no abnormal seizmic activity was recorded anytime recently. Suspect faulty equipment and faulty back up equipment.

They also said that the whole town is at risk if the now stressed dam of the lower resevoir gives. It is holding for now but no projections are being made for how long it might remain.

It is in Missouri so it has to be south west of St Louis.

They claim it is lucky that it happened now. If it had been summer, then 1000's of people would be injured or dead. The entire park was flooded including all the campground and parking lot.

The 3 Kids are currently in critical condition at a childrens hospital in St Louis.

I was lost in those woods for 3 hours about 8 years ago the Missouri Department of Conservation had hired me and several others to go in there and reduce the Wild Hog population late one fall. "They had been attacking campers."

It was some of the prettiest land around. During that hunt "while lost" I walked beside a stream and watched beautiful little waterfalls, natural springs, and even walked thru a small section of petrified standing forest.

Since there is an abnormal amount of Iron Ore it threw my compass off causing me to get lost in the unknown woods. Since I was lost I was more concerned about getting out than hunting so didn't get anything. I now wish that I would have had a camera intead of a gun while I was wondering around becasue it was so spectacular. Now, no one will ever get to see what I saw that day ever again.
 
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Old Dec 14, 2005 | 11:44 PM
  #20  
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From: Lost some where in the middle of the Ozark Mountains!
Originally Posted by lovetrucks
PSS-Is that near you?
That event is not close enough to pose a threat to me. It's about 3 hours away. But I did drive close to there friday and sunday.

The new madrid fault line does pose a threat if another major earthquake slips. The experts say that fault line is under a lot of stress right now and was predicted to slip about 15 years ago. So we have just been sitting and waiting!
 
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Old Dec 14, 2005 | 11:49 PM
  #21  
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From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by PSS-Mag
That event is not close enough to pose a threat to me. It's about 3 hours away. But I did drive close to there friday and sunday.

The new madrid fault line does pose a threat if another major earthquake slips. The experts say that fault line is under a lot of stress right now and was predicted to slip about 15 years ago. So we have just been sitting and waiting!
Well I'm glad you're safe this time. And let's hope there's not another major earthquake.
 
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Old Dec 15, 2005 | 10:04 AM
  #22  
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I've been working in this area for the past couple of years and have been to this reservoir several times.

This is part of an Ameren UE (electric company) pumped storage facility called Taum Sauk (located on Taum Sauk Mountain -- Elev: 1772 (yes, this is a mountain in this area)). There are only a handful of these types of facilities in the United States; this being one of them (another one is located outside of Chattanooga and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) called Raccoon Mountain). What they do is pump water up out of the Black River (which is a semi-major fluvial feature in the area) up to the upper reservoir (the one that is leaking). There is a series of tubes from the upper down to a lower reservoir. These tubes have turbine generators about 2/3 or the way down the 700 foot drop in elevation.

When energy demand is high enough, they open the gates, water falls down the tubes (massive tubes), spins the turbines and pumps electricity into the grid. When it's just about drained, they kick the pumps on, utilize some of the energy that they produced, and bring water back up to the upper. Very simple and effective process; let gravity do all the work.

I was actually standing next to this reservoir as early as about 3 weeks ago. The facility shuts down this time of year as the weather/roads/etc get pretty crummy (all the lettered highways in this area (Iron, Dent, and Reynolds Counties) are crummy to begin with... windy, curvy, hilly)...

One story I've read mentions Johnston Shut-Ins State Park. I was there about 2 weeks ago and before that around 4 weeks ago (great place to stop and eat lunch while down in this area... grab a ham sandwich in the now swampy Lesterville, and run out there)(very neat place... check it out if you're ever down in SEMO). I've attached a few recent pictures from Johnston Shut Ins...

We're doing a lot of soil remediation down in this area as a result of Pb mining activities. Fortunately, none of the work that we've done in this area was affected by this dam breach but, it's VERY close-by. I had one home owner that I've dealt with tell me that "...if Taum Sauk ever lets go, you won't have to worry about cleaning anything up down in this area ever again...". Fortunately for him, only the upper 'let go'.

RP





 

Last edited by Rockpick; Dec 15, 2005 at 10:07 AM.
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Old Dec 15, 2005 | 10:30 AM
  #23  
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From: ???.....depends on the day


There is a full article HERE it is about a 2 hour drive from my place...
 
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Old Dec 15, 2005 | 10:48 AM
  #24  
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Here's a buncha pics

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/even...5hdg--?sp=6000
 
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