Time to build an ark?

[osoab]

Copter view from 2-16-17. No zoom in of the spillway.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8DYb_3XPF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8DYb_3XPF4

[EE_]

It's not just Oroville: Record rain is straining California's whole flood control network
Construction continues on damaged Oroville Dam spillway. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Rong-Gong Lin II, Paige St. John, Matt Stevens and Corina KnollContact Reporters

The frantic effort over the last few days to lower water levels at Oroville Dam after the structure’s two spillways became damaged is part of a larger drama playing out as California rapidly shifts from extreme drought to intense deluges.

Large swaths of the region are on track to experience their wettest winter on record, with many areas having already surpassed their average precipitation for an entire year.

And all that water is putting new strains on the network of dams, rivers, levees and other waterways that are essential to preventing massive flooding during wet years like this one.

Be prepared: Monster storm could be biggest of season for L.A. area

The biggest danger zone lies in the Central Valley at the base of the Sierra Nevada, whose tall peaks can wring the skies of huge amounts of rain and snow. The area is essentially one giant floodplain that would be easily transformed into an inland sea without man-made flood control. At 400 miles long and 40 miles wide, it has only a tiny bottleneck from which to drain — a one-mile opening at the Carquinez Strait at San Pablo Bay — before water heads into the San Francisco Bay.

This year, find a flavorful solution to your new year’s resolutions. From breaking bad habits, to building new ones, this bold flavor has your back. So go ahead, ditch sugar. 2016 isn’t looking.

As the site of the nation’s tallest dam and the main storage for the State Water Project that sends water to the Southland, Lake Oroville has commanded national attention as the crippled spillways forced the evacuations of more than 100,000 downstream. But smaller water systems are also under intense pressure.

Sixteen reservoirs, ranging from small to the biggest in the state, were above 90% full as of Wednesday morning.

Among them is the Don Pedro Reservoir, the sixth-largest in California and located near Yosemite National Park. As of Wednesday afternoon, it stood at an elevation of 827.4 feet, just shy of its 830-foot capacity, the Turlock Irrigation District said in a statement. The district continued to make releases to the Tuolumne River, which flows through Stanislaus County and into urban centers such as Modesto.

Forecasters predict about 4.7 inches of precipitation could fall in the watershed over the next six days. Although the irrigation district said it does not anticipate an overflow, it advised residents of Stanislaus and Merced counties to register for emergency notifications.

In the Sacramento Valley, Shasta Dam, the spigot for California’s largest water storage lake, and Keswick Dam both released large volumes of water for multiple days into the Sacramento River.

George Skelton: Dam officials should've listened to those warnings about Oroville. Now we're stuck paying the price

The National Weather Service’s California Nevada River Forecast Center warns that the San Joaquin River at Vernalis in San Joaquin County will surge into the “danger stage” this weekend, the first time this winter that the center has made such a warning. That could put the town of Lathrop, south of Stockton, at risk.

Earlier this week, evacuation orders were issued for Tyler Island, a small farming tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, after a compromised levee posed a risk of flooding.

To water experts, it’s a pattern that plays out in years of heavy rains. Lakes pushed to capacity have placed tremendous strain on levees, some of which were built long ago and were weakly constructed. Perceived as fail-safes, experts say levees were meant to reduce the frequency of floods, not stop them altogether.

“They’re really the No. 1 defense against floods, and they’re not very good at it,” Mount said. “Levees are kind of unreliable partners in flood management.”

Hoping to avoid the situation faced by Lake Oroville, officials are planning large releases of water from reservoirs. But that could further strain the hundreds of miles of levees that line the Central Valley’s vast river networks, built to protect homes, businesses and farms from floods. The series of storms that slammed the area in December 1996 and lasted for a week caused numerous levees to collapse. Widespread flooding that inundated 300 square miles led to extensive damage and evacuations of 120,000 people, as well as nine deaths.

While the state’s reservoirs are built to release water slowly, officials are forced to quicken the pace of releases when they are at capacity. Water from brimming reservoirs is guided into nearby rivers. If those rivers are full, water can seep over and under levees, or through hidden cracks, leading to erosion.

More expected storms this season and a massive snowpack likely to run off into the summer has officials grappling with their options.

“After several years of drought, now we’ve got too much all at once,” said Jeremy Hill, a civil engineer who is part of the Department of Water Resources flood operations team.

Hill said the threat of floods would be a lasting concern until the end of spring.

Levees were not designed to be stressed for extended periods of time and they require constant supervision, said Joseph Countryman, a member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board and former head of reservoir operations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Northern California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. Even without major rainstorms, the magnitude of the volume of water flowing through the system will still create “tremendous seepage” in the levees, potentially weakening them. And significant flows are to be expected through June, he said.

“The longer the water is on levees, the more potential they have to become saturated and develop problems they have never before exhibited,” he said.

State water officials said despite the record rainfall, they remain confident the flood control systems will hold up.

“There’s a lot of water moving around and everything’s full and everybody’s going to have plenty of water,” said Bill Croyle, the acting director of the Department of Water Resources who was at incident command headquarters for the Oroville Dam. “I don’t think it’s testing the system.”

Even as rain began to fall Wednesday, Croyle said the storms forecast over the next few days will not be enough to test the integrity of the Oroville Dam or its two damaged spillways. He said the public “won’t see a blip in the reservoir” levels, now dropping about 8 inches an hour.

Officials at the dam said their biggest worry wasn’t the weather but the damage done to the dam’s already compromised main spillway during days of sustained pounding from heavy releases of water. When the emergency spillway began to fail Sunday, officials sent massive amounts of water down the main spillway — despite the damage — in a desperate effort to reduce the water level in the reservoir.

“It’s holding up really well,” Croyle said of the main spillway. But he added continued mass water releases could be causing hidden damage to the rocky subsurface adjacent to the concrete chute.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-oroville-floods-norcal-20170216-story.html

[Glass]

At least 44 trucks and more than two dozen personnel from FEMA are expected to arrive at the base through Friday.

44 trucks of death?

At least it won't take them 2 weeks to get there this time. Hopefully they parked up above the water line.

Quite often, when a settlement/town etc gets hit by a "natural disaster" there are all kinds of promises of rebuilding etc.... but then time drags on, things get stalled and eventually nothing gets rebuilt. It is a common theme I've seen here as well. They usually use fire down here to burn out settlements that never get rebuilt despite government promises and emergency funding. It happens so often you have to wonder if the fires were accidental bush fires or deliberately lit.

[JohnQPublic]

I was following this guy today:

https://www.periscope.tv/MyAmerica120/1YqKDXmXkBDKV?

[Glass]

I was following this guy today:

https://www.periscope.tv/MyAmerica120/1YqKDXmXkBDKV?

Is that the guy whos claiming that the sherrif is looking for him for posting videos from on the spot at the slipway? And he's really been trespassing? Sounded like click bait to me.

[Glass]

Here's our friend from Nevada City posting an update on the dam, the no fly restrictions, water level and outflow inflow numbers and some more up close news footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF4FtafLIL4

[PatColo]

see 2nd hour rense from 2/13, some interesting talk of topsoil, I'd have to listen again to understand better... sounded like conspiracy speculation:

Jeff Rense Radio Show - 2017.02.13 (http://grizzom.blogspot.com/2017/02/jeff-rense-radio-show-20170213.html)


Listen (http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=https://archive.org/download/Rense.20170213/Rense.20170213.1of3.mp3) Download (https://archive.org/download/Rense.20170213/Rense.20170213.1of3.mp3) Hour 1 - Jonathan Emord (http://www.emord.com/) - Sanctuary Cities & Dem Obstructionism

Listen (http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=https://archive.org/download/Rense.20170213/Rense.20170213.2of3.mp3) Download (https://archive.org/download/Rense.20170213/Rense.20170213.2of3.mp3) Hour 2 - Cliff Mickelson - Inside Truth Of The Oroville Dam Crisis

Listen (http://www.talkshoe.com/resources/talkshoe/images/swf/lastEpisodePlayer.swf?fileUrl=https://archive.org/download/Rense.20170213/Rense.20170213.3of3.mp3) Download (https://archive.org/download/Rense.20170213/Rense.20170213.3of3.mp3) Hour 3 - Yoichi Shimatsu - Dana Durnford (http://www.thenuclearproctologist.org/) - Fukushima update

[Horn]

Who's paying for all this shit??????

Its been decided that it is More direct route to happiness(oneness), to pay a large group of overage local Sacramento High IQ Boomers to mill about in same type black clothing, then to direct resources for some low income grunt type Engineers to shore-up any existing Earthen levy network.

[crimethink]

Who's paying for all this shit??????

The taxpayers of northern California.

[Joshua01]

We all pay until we stop paying. The state received monies to maintain CA infrastructure. Where did it go and who will be answering for that?
The taxpayers of northern California.

[Neuro]

We all pay until we stop paying. The state received monies to maintain CA infrastructure. Where did it go and who will be answering for that?

Since Ca was in a perpetual drought, it seemed stupid to invest those in maintaining spillway infrastructure of empty dams. They probably preferred desalination plants.

[Joshua01]

They spend money like drunken sailors out there on PC crap, freebies and supporting illegals. What goes around comes around! I haven't been able to find a fuck to give. To the 'good' people there who say it's too tough to leave a communist state....find a way to leave, stay and really do something about it, or remain guilty by association. Sorry...
Since Ca was in a perpetual drought, it seemed stupid to invest those in maintaining spillway infrastructure of empty dams. They probably preferred desalination plants.

[cheka.]

https://pics.onsizzle.com/california-california-dam-unable-to-hold-back-liberal-tears-published-14380994.png

[Norweger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDmwo5nsWfQ

This dam collapsed the way it was designed to.

[vacuum]

The taxpayers of northern California.

While it may be a disaster for northern California in the short term, it might ultimately be a good thing by pushing Jefferson State to go forward.

[osoab]

Still a media blackout on new photos/video of the main spillway.

[Neuro]

Still a media blackout on new photos/video of the main spillway.

Nothing to see there. Move on!

[Joshua01]

I found this
1487517265227.jpg (http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1487517265227.jpg)

http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1487517265227.jpg

[midnight rambler]

I found this
1487517265227.jpg (http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1487517265227.jpg)

http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1487517265227.jpg

Blocked

Your IP or IP range is blocked from accessing 4chan.

[Joshua01]

Your IP network must be on the bad boy list.;) I use a VPN and can access it.
Blocked



Your IP or IP range is blocked from accessing 4chan.

[Horn]

i got the same message, can access 4chan.

think yur link is too direct.

[Joshua01]

8882
i got the same message, can access 4chan.

think yur link is too direct.
Let's try this:

[Horn]

that's pretty good, for a sense of scale, THE AUXILIARY spillway has been relieved of its tiny duty once again.

No water there at 50ft. below max. level.

[osoab]

From this morning or late yesterday. No view of the new channel that would be to the left.
https://twitter.com/yamphoto?lang=en


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5CwC0_VMAEYsy1.jpg:large

[osoab]

Looks like they have been busy with the media black out.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=yxgtyOfwrj8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=yxgtyOfwrj8

[Horn]

Storm: 10 trillion gallons over next 7 days for CA #LakeOroville watershed to get massive amounts of rain

Anthony Watts (https://wattsupwiththat.com/author/wattsupwiththat/) / 7 hours ago (https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/02/19/storm-10-trillion-gallons-over-next-7-days-for-ca-lakeoroville-watershed-to-get-massive-amounts-or-rain/)

Dr. Ryan Maue of WeatherBell says there’s going to be an unbelievable “10 trillion gallons” in the next 7 days as more storms come through.


https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/oroville-rain-forecast.jpg

https://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/ca-ecmwf.png

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2017/02/19/storm-10-trillion-gallons-over-next-7-days-for-ca-lakeoroville-watershed-to-get-massive-amounts-or-rain/

[Glass]

Wow, 10 Trillion gallons? Thats unbelievable. That must be all the water in the world.

post goes missing

Some one did a 3D model of the dam area. I don't seem to be able to zoom in closer which is disappointing but cool tech in action. Ah yes you can..... mouse wheel zooms.

https://sketchfab.com/models/a2e069b5196945b79d9487c2730cbcac

https://sketchfab.com/models/a2e069b5196945b79d9487c2730cbcac

I guess its some kid of Googlemaps on topology measurements overlay.
It doesn't embed.
a2e069b5196945b79d9487c2730cbcac
OROVILLE DAM master model for 3D printing (https://sketchfab.com/models/a2e069b5196945b79d9487c2730cbcac) by EOSGIS (https://sketchfab.com/EOSGIS) on Sketchfab (https://sketchfab.com)

[cheka.]

i dont want to hear no whining about drought in cali.....for years

God gave it plenty for a good long run

[JohnQPublic]

Looks like the output is cut back: https://www.periscope.tv/MyAmerica120/1vOxwYWALqoGB?

[Glass]

As usual GSUS is ahead of the curve. This could be the plan for those emergency dollars from the Feds.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/brownsark.jpg

[Joshua01]

Save the animals, screw the people, let them drown wondering where the money went that they received for maintaining the dams and levees. God speed to the animals!
As usual GSUS is ahead of the curve. This could be the plan for those emergency dollars from the Feds.

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/brownsark.jpg

[crimethink]

The People no longer trust "the authorities," so they are now operating their own emergency response teams...


Flood fears renewed as California braces for another storm

TRACY, Calif. (AP) -- Some Northern California residents are preparing for another powerful Pacific storm by patrolling levees for signs of danger, reviewing evacuation plans and filling hundreds of sand bags.

One resident near Tracy, which is 80 miles east of San Francisco, said that though the levees appear in good shape, they decided take charge after the San Joaquin River started rising.

"We have a levee response team, a sand bagging team, teams to check on what walkers checking on the levees find," said San Joaquin River Club resident Paula Martin, who is helping coordinate emergency plans for the private neighborhood of 800 homes.

Martin said the neighborhood has sirens in the clubhouse and at a church that can warn residents of impending flooding.

"Our community is pulling together like real champs," she said, adding that volunteers have been patrolling the levees every two hours.

The area saw rain and wind Sunday afternoon but forecasters said a storm packing a bigger punch will reach the San Francisco Bay Area overnight before moving to the Central Valley.

The San Joaquin River at a measuring station near Vernalis - about 10 miles southeast of Tracy - remained Sunday at "danger stage," meaning it keeps approaching the top of levees, said Tim Daly, a spokesman with San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services.

"When the water gets that high and more water is coming, there is just too much pressure and levees can break," Daly said. "They can be topped."

Another area of concern is the Don Pedro reservoir, which officials said was at 98 percent capacity on Sunday. The reservoir captures water from the Tuolumne River, a key tributary of the San Joaquin.

Meanwhile, water was receding in the farm community of Maxwell, about 70 miles north of Sacramento, where dozens of people sought higher ground Friday after creeks topped their banks and inundated houses. Crews used boats to rescue residents from the low-lying neighborhood.

Officials advised residents to be ready to evacuate.

"We're telling those people to keep a bag close by and get ready to leave again," said Colusa County Assistant Sheriff Jim Saso Saso. "If the water comes back up, it's going to be those areas affected."

About 60 miles east, the water level continued to fall at Oroville Dam, where a damaged spillway had raised major flood concerns and prompted the evacuation of 188,000 people last weekend.

The amount of water flowing down the spillway was increased from 55,000 cubic feet a second to 60,000 cubic feet a second Sunday afternoon in anticipation of the storm, the California Department of Water Resources said. Last week, outflows were at nearly 100,000 cubic feet a second.

During recent storms, authorities up and down the state have dealt with overflowing creeks, mudslide threats in foothill areas blackened by fires, road collapses and hundreds of toppled trees in neighborhoods. At least three people have died.

[crimethink]

Shocking rain damage is wakeup call to fix ailing roads, infrastructure, experts say

http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20170218/shocking-rain-damage-is-wakeup-call-to-fix-ailing-roads-infrastructure-experts-say

http://image.dailybreeze.com/storyimage/LI/20170218/NEWS/170219467/AR/0/AR-170219467.jpg&maxh=400&maxw=667


We were gripped by riveting video of the 20-foot sinkhole in Studio City that swallowed two vehicles in the wake of Friday’s storm and the 15 Freeway collapse in the Cajon Pass that flung a fire engine around like a toy truck.

But for some, it wasn’t just dramatic, breath-taking video, it was reality TV.

Besides undermining roads in a vivid way, the monster soaker underscored the need to bolster Southern California’s aging transportation network, current and former officials said Saturday.

“I’m not surprised by any of this that is happening right now because we have been delaying maintenance everywhere,” said Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Southern California Association of Governments.

And former San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris quickly drew the same conclusion.

“I guess that’s testimony of the amount of maintenance needed in California,” Morris said by phone.

“When you get rainstorms like we’ve experienced over the last several weeks, suddenly reality sets in,” he said.

State Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, termed the damage a wake-up call – and symbol.

“It’s symbolic that we’re not paying attention to infrastructure,” Stone said. “It’s a symptom of a greater problem. It all comes down to neglect.”

It was just after 8:15 p.m. Friday when firefighters rolled up at Woodbridge Street in Studio City, just west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, and found a Mercedes-Benz SUV in a huge hole broiling with rushing water.

A 48-year-old woman was standing on top of the upside-down vehicle. She had scrambled out of the SUV and was screaming for help.

“Firefighters jumped into action and rapidly lowered a (20-foot) extension ladder down to the woman, allowing her to climb out,” said Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

At about the same time, dozens of miles to the east, a San Bernardino County firetruck that had been hanging seemingly by a thread tumbled off to the side as a 200-foot section of an I-15 slow lane collapsed. Rain water had been undermining the section and the pavement suddenly gave way.

The three firefighters assigned to the engine had gotten out before that and no one was hurt. But Caltrans estimated in a Twitter message that the cost of repairs would run about $3 million. It was unclear on Saturday how long repairs will take.

Those were some of the most glaring examples of problems that surfaced as the storm, stoked by the mid-air collision of low pressure system and a massive plume of moist Pacific air, soaked the region with up to 5 inches of rain in 24 hours.

It reminded Stone of the time remnants of a tropical storm unleashed downpours that knocked out an Interstate 10 bridge in the Riverside County desert in July 2015, crippling the major transportation link between Southern California and Phoenix. While the bridge was being fixed, detours added several hours to trips along a route heavily used by truckers and crucial for product delivery.

Similarly, the damage to the 15 Freeway, which temporarily squeezed southbound traffic into two lanes between Highway 138 and Cleghorn Road, isn’t just an inconvenience, Ikhrata said. It’s a mammoth hit to Southern California’s economy.

He noted the 15 links the region with Las Vegas and points beyond, and that Cajon Pass is one of two main gateways into Southern California from the north — the other is the 5 Freeway over the Grapevine.

“The pass is so important,” said Ikhrata, whose agency represents Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and two other counties. “It’s an economic disaster as well.”

Meanwhile, the damage comes a few days after a research group’s annual report card spotlighted numerous aging Southern California bridges on a list of the nation’s 250 most heavily traveled structurally deficient spans.

Los Angeles and Orange County spans dominated the top spots on the American Road and Transportation Builders Association list, which mentioned several bridges along the 110 Freeway. A Riverside County freeway bridge was rated 88th worst nationally.

Sadly, said former Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-Glendale, the list and the storm damage reflect the lack of attention California leaders have given to transportation lately.

Theories abound as to what’s the reason for that.

“Some of it is human nature,” Gatto said.

He said public officials, like everyday people, often react to problems and challenges rather than plan for them in advance.

“But you can’t attribute all of this to human nature,” he said. “We need a little more forethought in our state.”

Many have been saying that as road damage has multiplied in recent years.

And Ikhrata said a recent analysis estimated there is a 10-year, $296 billion backlog of maintenance for the state as a whole, and a $190 billion backlog for the six counties the association represents.

“This is just to bring the system up to par,” he said.

However, leaders disagree on how the backlog should be financed.

Ikhrata said the problem is so large that existing revenue sources cannot handle the challenge. He generally supports a proposal by state Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, to raise $6 billion in new money.

Beall has proposed boosting the per-gallon gas tax by 12 cents, the diesel excise tax by 20 cents and the sales tax by 4 percent, plus enact an annual $100 fee on zero-emission vehicles.

Stone opposes any new tax because the state has had a habit of diverting some of existing transportation revenue away from roads to balance Sacramento’s budget.

“I don’t think it’s right to go back to the well and ask for more,” Stone said.

The solution, he said, is to use all available sources that were originally intended for roads.

Perhaps, said Morris, there is a sliver of hope in President Donald Trump’s vow to launch a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure building program across the country. But to say he is cautiously optimistic about that would be putting it mildly.

“Promises made are not promises kept,” Morris said.

In any event, seeing the 15 and a Studio City street crumble is just more frustration for officials who view transportation as one of the state’s most pressing concerns.

“We always prided ourselves in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s as having the finest transportation system in the country,” Stone said. No longer.

[Glass]

Save the animals, screw the people, let them drown wondering where the money went that they received for maintaining the dams and levees. God speed to the animals!

what about the furries?

[Joshua01]

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--7pL8Fe5R--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/s3ic5fjgiwy19ufdoe57.gif

OOPS! Oh well...$3 million here, $3 million there...no worries for the guys in charge, CA has endless piles of cash in the form of unending tax increases. It must be nirvana for the pols out there. It's not like it's their money!

[Joshua01]

They're combustable aren't they? Use your imagination ;)
what about the furries?

[crimethink]

$3 million here, $3 million there...No worries, CA has endless piles of cash in the form of unending tax increases. It must be nirvana to live there!

If you're White, aim to never have to interact with a State agency.

[Joshua01]

I live in a free state where we frown on niggers and spics. I moved from a state who supports niggers, spics and free handouts. I hated it there so I moved out. I can't save the world but I can stay the fuck away from the crazies.
If you're White, aim to never have to interact with a State agency.

[osoab]

Video from the bottom of the spillway from this morning.

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1yoKMegPpPWKQ

Something changed with the outflow. The release rate numbers have not increased. Concrete slab redirecting flow?

[crimethink]

Video from the bottom of the spillway from this morning.

https://www.periscope.tv/w/1yoKMegPpPWKQ

Something changed with the outflow. The release rate numbers have not increased. Concrete slab redirecting flow?

That is correct. Almost no flow down the concrete channel anymore...almost all of it out the side into the raw dirt.

[Joshua01]

That's not good!!! WTF are they doing out there anyway?
That is correct. Almost no flow down the concrete channel anymore...almost all of it out the side into the raw dirt.

[monty]

That's not good!!! WTF are they doing out there anyway?

There isn't much they can do

https://cdn.indiancountrymedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Oroville-dam-aerial-CA-Dept-Water-Resources-AP_17043841291800.jpg

[Norweger]

Probably just a bunch of lawyering that will have no real effect on the outcome.

[Neuro]

There isn't much the can do

https://cdn.indiancountrymedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Oroville-dam-aerial-CA-Dept-Water-Resources-AP_17043841291800.jpg

You have the wrong strategy if you aim to maintain infrastructure only when it is collapsing...

[Joshua01]

Well, the good news is the chances of watching dead commies floating downstream at some point are still quite good

[Neuro]

Well, the good news is the chances of watching dead commies floating downstream at some point are still quite good

Californian House of Representatives and Senate is downstream? Or just their voters?

[Horn]

Californian House of Representatives and Senate is downstream? Or just their voters?

In drought the average California were underwater with Gov. regulations, In flood there is a chance they can breathe.

[Neuro]

In drought the average California were underwater with Gov. regulations, In flood there is a chance they can breathe.

They managed to make that place of immense natural beauty into a place of average dreadful lives, against all odds!

[monty]

They managed to make that place of immense natural beauty into a place of average dreadful lives, against all odds!
The beautuful part is mostly in the north, the inhabitants are still normal in the north.

[crimethink]

Well, the good news is the chances of watching dead commies floating downstream at some point are still quite good

Butte, Sutter, and Yuba counties all voted for Trump.

[Joshua01]

My fingers are crossed that only progressive Democrats in CA turn up as floaters
Butte, Sutter, and Yuba counties all voted for Trump.

[Neuro]

My fingers are crossed that only progressive Democrats in CA turn up as floaters

So you believe in God?

[Joshua01]

I believe in miracles
So you believe in God?

[Glass]

Heres' an update from our Friend from Nevada City. I haven't watched it. Will check it out in a couple hours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Ij7cD2C8Y

[Norweger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fiWPrDjsbI

[Glass]

Juan was back at the dam yesterday and got a tour around the base of the dam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nrz-U1yxOWM

[Hitch]

Juan was back at the dam yesterday and got a tour around the base of the dam.

He captured some very good footage of the spillway. Most people don't understand the forces of water. One mph current of water, creates the equivalent force of 15 mph of wind.

Look at that spillway. There's 15 mph of water moving perhaps? That's like a blast of 200 mph winds, hurricane force, through that area, non stop. Add in the weight of over 8 pounds per gallon of water, massive, just massive forces at work on a damaged structure.

[Glass]

yes some good explanations in the latest video. Especially when talking about the scouring effect at the top of the spillways.

Also the realisation that all the equipment and all of the materials have to be carted across the dam to do the repair work,

[crimethink]

He captured some very good footage of the spillway. Most people don't understand the forces of water. One mph current of water, creates the equivalent force of 15 mph of wind.

Look at that spillway. There's 15 mph of water moving perhaps? That's like a blast of 200 mph winds, hurricane force, through that area, non stop. Add in the weight of over 8 pounds per gallon of water, massive, just massive forces at work on a damaged structure.

Most modern people are totally clueless about God's Natural Laws. I read that some woman ignored a road closed sign in Glenn County, and ended up drowning. Flood vs. Vehicle = Point to Flood.

The ignorance of Natural Law and/or hubris of "man's domination of nature" extends to engineers, as well, as we see with Oroville Dam, or the levees you see up close and personal.

[Joshua01]

Darwin is alive and well!
Most modern people are totally clueless about God's Natural Laws. I read that some woman ignored a road closed sign in Glenn County, and ended up drowning. Flood vs. Vehicle = Point to Flood.

The ignorance of Natural Law and/or hubris of "man's domination of nature" extends to engineers, as well, as we see with Oroville Dam, or the levees you see up close and personal.

[Glass]

Another quick update Wednesday 2/22. High Country Reservoirs.

Levels at Oroville are steady but not allowing closure of main spill way yet so they still can't get in to clear out the debris in the bottom pool to allow the power station to come back on line and router water flows that way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4UABYjFx98

Interesting info about 1 of the HC reservoirs, can't remember name now. Has a ungated spillway, properly concreted but uses a stand pipe to drain into the next reservoir/lake down the mountain via a tunnel/pipe system. The tunnel/pipe runs for quite a long way.

Anyone got a weather forecast for that area for the next 4 or 5 days?

[Glass]

Juan found some archive footage of the dam being built. interesting stuff. Impressive engineering feat.

You could classify this under "making America great the first time".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzRGZAbBZMM

It also shows some newsreel of the 1955 christmas day flooding in that area of the Feather river.

Some things I took away from this. Dam is 770 feet tall. Took 7 years to build. Ronald Regan did the commissioning?

[crimethink]

Impressive engineering feat.

The people who created these feats are either very old or gone. The people who exist today are incapable of the brilliance and foresight to build or even properly maintain them.

Of course, I'm talking people collectively; there are still a minority who are brilliant and insightful. But they no longer are representative of America.

God help us when more nuclear power plants start having "incidents."

[osoab]

Dam doom is off for the time being. At least at Oroville. Anderson dam may be one to watch. That emergency spillway looks poorly thought out. I will say this about the Oroville mess. They finally got in gear and actually got a lot accomplished. Anyone hear an estimate of yards of grout poured? They covered 1700' long by 500'-800' wide at least. The ES is about 1700' long I believe. How many tons of rubble did they bring in? I saw a couple of photos with just one massive stone on a lowboy.

[Glass]

How many tons of rubble did they bring in? I saw a couple of photos with just one massive stone on a lowboy.

Video in #306 has some numbers IIRC. Video of the trucks moving across the dam to the emergency spill way.

[crimethink]

Anderson dam may be one to watch.

Holy Shit!

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/57/27/72/12418709/5/920x920.jpg

Morgan Hill, Silicon Valley.

[Joshua01]

A better question might be 'Who's going to pay the bill?'
Dam doom is off for the time being. At least at Oroville. Anderson dam may be one to watch. That emergency spillway looks poorly thought out. I will say this about the Oroville mess. They finally got in gear and actually got a lot accomplished. Anyone hear an estimate of yards of grout poured? They covered 1700' long by 500'-800' wide at least. The ES is about 1700' long I believe. How many tons of rubble did they bring in? I saw a couple of photos with just one massive stone on a lowboy.

[Cebu_4_2]

A better question might be 'Who's going to pay the bill?'


Mexico?

[EE_]

A better question might be 'Who's going to pay the bill?'

California is the most resource rich and tourism rich state in the country. There's plenty of money to go around for the good times, there should be plenty of money to fix their problems.

[Cebu_4_2]

California is the most resource rich and tourism rich state in the country. There's plenty of money to go around for the good times, there should be plenty of money to fix their problems.


So broke they are raising the gas tax by 45%

[Joshua01]

Any dead communist floater sighting yet?

[Glass]

No Doom, just a family day out in the High Sierras piercing the snow.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO6J1uAK8qo

[monty]

This video show the extent of the damage to the Oroville Dam main spillway


http://youtu.be/uW_CUdSiSx4

https://youtu.be/uW_CUdSiSx4

[EE_]

New Gold Rush as Floods Shake Loose Old California Deposits
Panning for gold
by JOEL B. POLLAK28 Feb 201716

California’s unusually wet winter may trigger a new gold rush, as floodwaters shake loose old mineral deposits from mines, riverbeds and dams.
CBS News’ San Francisco affiliate, KPIX 5, reports that at least one prospector is seeing more interest — and more success — on his property:

“Miner Gary” Thomas said he always finds at least a little gold here on his property near Jamestown in Tuolumne County, but this year, there’s so much more runoff than normal and it’s shaking the gold from these hills.

Thomas said it could provide a “Eureka” moment for those inclined to come up here and look for it. “(The runoff) kind of ‘etch-a-sketches’ everything,” said Thomas. “Eveything I had dug up and now my dig spots are all gone.”

The known gold digs were washed out, trees uprooted, and landscape eroded. The runoffs have also removed gold out of the old abandoned mines and sent it down the river.

“It’s going to bring down more gold,” said Thomas. “It’s going to bring up new areas that I never got to.”

As Bloomberg News reported earlier in February, many of the towns near the troubled Oroville Dam date back to the state’s original Gold Rush in the mid-nineteenth century.

Those town have struggled to regain their economic heft. But new rains have coursed through old mines — and the sudden release of water from the dam is may carry mineral deposits downstream that include gold.

However, the amounts of gold found are likely to be small.

In a similar case in Thailand earlier this year, farmers whose fields were flooded turned to panning for gold to make up for their economic losses.

http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/02/28/new-gold-rush-floods-shake-loose-old-california-deposits/

[Glass]

I think he is right. How cold would it be doing this right now? Could you afford to wait until it's warmer? I think you would have to, although you're not going too high it will still be cold. Spring Time will be busy. The Rush will really get underway

Use the Time to get prepared. Find a stake if you can/need to. Get your gear in order.

From the Rogue River dredging thread (http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?91581-Rouge-River-Oregon-gold-dredgi)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOGtgtEyesk

[Horn]

Goin to Californ EE_?

[Jewboo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyvDPt-HU3g

[ximmy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyvDPt-HU3g

Stupid not to let the spillway follow the natural canyon...

Remember the Bridge to Nowhere?

You can't stop the natural flow.

[Joshua01]

What a fucking mess. Brown should be taken into custody in chains and made to answer for why he allowed this to happen!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyvDPt-HU3g

[Horn]

What are all u flakes complaining about now? The weather looks beautiful now in California.

Everyone including Brown is a Trump supporter.

[midnight rambler]

This video show the extent of the damage to the Oroville Dam main spillway


http://youtu.be/uW_CUdSiSx4

https://youtu.be/uW_CUdSiSx4

Appears to be beyond repair.

Note size relative to helicopter in this gif -

http://rense.com/1.mpicons/orovilleNEWanim.gif

[crimethink]

Appears to be beyond repair.

Note size relative to helicopter in this gif -

http://rense.com/1.mpicons/orovilleNEWanim.gif

Yes, it's a total loss, and yes, Oroville Dam and everything associated with it is huge. Quite awesome to stand in front of such a monument.

[Hitch]

Yes, it's a total loss, and yes, Oroville Dam and everything associated with it is huge. Quite awesome to stand in front of such a monument.

All they need to do is do what they did with the levees that protect the central valley. Pack dirt down, then pile rock on top of it. If they find any issues, just pile more rock.

That seems to be what's keeping the central valley from flooding and a total loss, yet surprising it apparently works.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic...pile more rock. lol. What could go wrong?

[midnight rambler]

All they need to do is do what they did with the levees that protect the central valley. Pack dirt down, then pile rock on top of it. If they find any issues, just pile more rock.

That seems to be what's keeping the central valley from flooding and a total loss, yet surprising it apparently works.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic...pile more rock. lol. What could go wrong?

Actually I think gabions would work quite well.

[Horn]

spillway is about as wide as a 5 lane highway.

access is good to the damaged area, no sense workin on it until dry season a 4 month job.

[EE_]

Goin to Californ EE_?

I'm kind of far away now, but this would be the year to give it a try.

here's a little bit of mine I can show ya

[Hitch]

I'm kind of far away now, but this would be the year to give it a try.

here's a little bit of mine I can show ya

Oh wow! Teach me o great one! I'm in CA, hope to take advantage of the high water by visiting the mountains for a gold hunt this spring/summer.

[EE_]

Oh wow! Teach me o great one! I'm in CA, hope to take advantage of the high water by visiting the mountains for a gold hunt this spring/summer.

First, it would be real handy to have a small RV to stay in. :)

[Horn]

good show, I have a hole between my wisdom tooth i could wedge one of those into.

Can you melt those into some sort of gold oatmeal cake waffer coin?

[Hitch]

First, it would be real handy to have a small RV to stay in. :)

:) I'll keep that in mind. Step two, after that?

[EE_]

good show, I have a hole between my wisdom tooth i could wedge one of those into.

Can you melt those into some sort of gold oatmeal cake waffer coin?

I have four gold crowns (molars) in my mouth. There's nothing better then gold crowns. They last longer then any other type of crown.

This is what they look like
http://intranet.tdmu.edu.ua/data/kafedra/internal/stomat_ortop/classes_stud/en/stomat/ptn/Propaedeutics%20of%20orthopedic%20stomatology/2/10.%20Artificial%20crowns..files/image033.jpg

[Horn]

After investigating my teeth I think i may need that many too. Looks like the Oroville spillway in there.

[Glass]

Juan gets back on the ground at Oroville dam. Gives us a 30 minute update on the situation. Uugge amount of debris at the bottom of the spillway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilkU_ivYTqQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilkU_ivYTqQ

The scale of it is hard to grasp until you see the machinery down on the pile in front of the canyon that was carved out the side of the spill way. They look smaller than tonka toys.

They have 1.5 - 1.8 million cubic feet of debris in the diversion pool. They can move about 40,000 cubic feet per day. It will take months to clear the diversion pool.

[Glass]

some up close video of the spillway and diversion pool work underway. Released by DWR, voice over by Juan. Cool time lapse included.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xa_Q1R7mGs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xa_Q1R7mGs

debunked: there was rebar in the original construction

[Norweger]

Does look kinda cheaply made with all those big rocks thrown in there. I heard that they used a lot of mining tailings when constructing the dam so that's probably what they used in the spillway as well.

[Glass]

Does look kinda cheaply made with all those big rocks thrown in there. I heard that they used a lot of mining tailings when constructing the dam so that's probably what they used in the spillway as well.

It looks like two layers to me. 1 very thick layer with the larger aggregate and then a smoother top layer with smaller aggregate - a finishing layer. Can't say there's any real issue with that. Compressive strength of the 2 layers would be different and you would expect the top layer is done that way for wear/resilience/appearance. Ultimately the layer with larger aggregate may have eroded faster because of its make up but in reality the time difference would have been marginal given the volume and force of water going over it.

In terms of dollar cost 1 vs the other, the money saved was probably worth it. Assuming there was a saving and it was done to the design spec.

I know it was poured over mostly bed rock. I'd be interested to know if it was anchored into the bedrock in anyway and if it was or wasn't, would anchoring make any difference in that kind of scenario?

[Glass]

Juans got 3 more updates.

March 9 - Turbines are back on stream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHBugwwEdyk

March 10
New DWR fly over the diversion pool work. Whats under the Oroville Dam - construction info.
Power plant outflows nearly back to normal - how will that impact down stream farmers with collapsed levies?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM37joWNcP8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM37joWNcP8

March 12 - a look inside the power plant and Valve outlet system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q0g43iI9kA

[Glass]

New fly over Video of the Oroville dam. Juan and friend fly over the dam and down the river to take a look at the work done so far And to see what damage might have been done due to flooding.

They have done quite a lot of work in what I think is a short time. 1 million somethings of dirt. I think it's cubic feet but I can't remember.

Talks about the gold dredging they did on the river after the main gold rush was over. Huge dredging barges. Impressive. The tailings from the dredging was used to build the dam. They fly over the tailings fields which were mahoosive.

Awesome old plane. Very impressive sideways landing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIwzJ0Dnz9E

[Glass]

Juan was down at the dam for the re-opening of the spillway.

Some cool footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQe0J5NLLT4S

some stats:
1.25 million cubic yards of debris moved
$100 million spent so far @ $4.27 mil per day
Service Roads have been upgraded
Concrete plant to be constructed
Rock crushing plant to be constructed.
Spillway running at 40K cfs to ensure water cascades off end of broken section and does not erode back toward the dam or hit broken section and further erode.
Spillway is 178 feet wide or 4 lane freeway wide
Spillway will run for 4-5 days now.
Power plant is shut down during spillway use
Expect to use the spillway another 3 times to manage the last of the winter melt.
Then undertake full repairs.

[Jewboo]

$100 million spent so far @ $4.27 mil per day.



Thanks for the updates Glass. Maintaining the spillway would have probably cost them only one million a year ago...

:(??

[Hitch]

I work in a related industry, and just 5 days ago got assigned to a construction site for a preventative project to stop what's happening at Oroville from happening at this site. It's amazing how it affects things down the line, such as we had to have equipment trucked in from as far as Chicago, because Oroville took all the resources locally. It's very high priority, but I'm working 12 hours every day for possibly up to 6 weeks because of it

I've learned a few things that may have not made the news. At the Oroville dam, it's speculated that it unearthed a lot of gold, and workers would be instantly fired if they are caught panning for gold, and at least one worker has been fired for it. Maybe they think processing all the material for gold might fund the project? Obviously, .gov wants that.

I've also learned, sadly, that there was a fatality at the Oroville site. Either early today, or late yesterday, a cement truck driver crashed and was killed.

[EE_]

I work in a related industry, and just 5 days ago got assigned to a construction site for a preventative project to stop what's happening at Oroville from happening at this site. It's amazing how it affects things down the line, such as we had to have equipment trucked in from as far as Chicago, because Oroville took all the resources locally. It's very high priority, but I'm working 12 hours every day for possibly up to 6 weeks because of it

I've learned a few things that may have not made the news. At the Oroville dam, it's speculated that it unearthed a lot of gold, and workers would be instantly fired if they are caught panning for gold, and at least one worker has been fired for it. Maybe they think processing all the material for gold might fund the project? Obviously, .gov wants that.

I've also learned, sadly, that there was a fatality at the Oroville site. Either early today, or late yesterday, a cement truck driver crashed and was killed.

12 hours every day, that's some nice paychecks.
I did a whole year of 6/12's and 8 on Sunday's, back in the 90's. It was tough, ya have no life, but the pay wasn't hard to take.
I sure missed those big checks when the job was over.

I imagine Oroville will be a hot spot for gold panners this summer, if it's dry and when the river goes down.

[Hitch]

12 hours every day, that's some nice paychecks.
I did a whole year of 6/12's and 8 on Sunday's, back in the 90's. It was tough, ya have no life, but the pay wasn't hard to take.
I sure missed those big checks when the job was over.

I imagine Oroville will be a hot spot for gold panners this summer, if it's dry and when the river goes down.

A whole year with no day off, that's insane. The project I'm on is considered an emergency, every day to perhaps the end of April. 12 hours of hard physical labor is tough though. It's only day 6 and I'm lights out as soon as my head hits the pillow at the end of the day. It's all prevailing wage, yesterday was double time. 12 hours of double time, I think that might be a $1000 day.

I just think it's funny, Trump gets elected and bamm, we get slammed with more work than we can handle. The harder you work, the less time you have to pay attention to what's going on in the country. I know it's not Trump, but the weather we have this year. At least out here in CA. It's going to be an interesting spring here.

[EE_]

A whole year with no day off, that's insane. The project I'm on is considered an emergency, every day to perhaps the end of April. 12 hours of hard physical labor is tough though. It's only day 6 and I'm lights out as soon as my head hits the pillow at the end of the day. It's all prevailing wage, yesterday was double time. 12 hours of double time, I think that might be a $1000 day.

I just think it's funny, Trump gets elected and bamm, we get slammed with more work than we can handle. The harder you work, the less time you have to pay attention to what's going on in the country. I know it's not Trump, but the weather we have this year. At least out here in CA. It's going to be an interesting spring here.

That year 91-92 I worked, was hard physical labor as a carpenter. Luckily I had someone to take care of me, because all I remember was shower, eat, work, sleep and getting up to do it again, nothing else. After that was over, a regular 40 work shift seemed like nothing and I had plenty of time to count my money and buy stuff.

This is the time to stack cash and pay your shit off, so you can start planning to retire early.

[Hitch]

That year 91-92 I worked, was hard physical labor as a carpenter. Luckily I had someone to take care of me, because all I remember was shower, eat, work, sleep and getting up to do it again, nothing else. After that was over, a regular 40 work shift seemed like nothing and I had plenty of time to count my money and buy stuff.

This is the time to stack cash and pay your shit off, so you can start planning to retire early.

Yeah, there's no time to spend money working that many hours. Thankfully, they set up a hotel room for me not far from the jobsite, with a kitchenette, so I can cook my own meals and not have to eat out all the time. Save even more money that way. Also, I at least have time to relax a bit at the end of the day, jump online and try to stay up on current events. This forum is usually the first site to find out what's really going on. Fuck TV.

Yes, now is my time to stack some cash and work my ass off. I'm working with some really great guys though, outside, in some beautiful weather and country. Life is good.

Sorry for derailing the thread, but back on topic, if I hear anything more about the Oroville dam jobsite, I'll share it. And, thanks Glass, for your contributions to this thread. In CA, I figure I'm just a small part of a lot of big projects to keep this state from flooding.

[Glass]

I've just been posting Juans work. I've been checking out his YT from time to time for a couple years because he does trail riding and flying cool old school planes. It's nice country.

He's done a good job following the activity up there. I think he knows some people on the ground. He also got picked up by local or national news which I think gave him a lot of incentive to do his updates. I've also been pretty impressed with the engineering of that whole water system. Heard about it but didn't know much. Learnt quite a bit since it all started.

Not sure how much gold prospecting is going to get done up there. I think with the different lakes and diversion canals any alluvial / fines stuff is going to settle out on controlled parts of the river where access won't be possible.

[Glass]

Here's Juans promised update from the dam on the 21st. I have not watched it yet. Looking at the title it looks like it addresses a question I raised a while back about how they anchor the concrete. Rock anchors are always interesting.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c16dr9qzlZY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c16dr9qzlZY

Its about 25 minutes long
Spillway Outflows steady at 45K cfs - on target
Diversion pool steady at 235ft
That means Power plant is running ok without water levels in diversion pool backing up.
Reservoir level slowly dropping through 830ft.
Preparing to do another debris clean up in diversion pool.
Some more rain coming - around 3 days worth.
Should not pose a problem

Has some footage early of a hydro plant failure in Russia and what can go wrong.
Also some DWR drone footage from 17th when they turned on the spillway again
Flyovers of the "new" plunge pool and rubble/debris fields laid out in steps
@ 18:20 shows rock anchor method
Interesting the epoxy they use also fills voids
Protruding length of rock bolts used as indicators of movement/deformation
Geologists using drones and lidar to rapidly build 3D imagery of site
Helicopter lines men $10K per hour
Evacuation advisory lifted 22/3/2017

[singular_me]

the side effect of crying wolf too many times (its a psyop) is that nobody believes it... until it actually happens
=====================

Scientists Warn That The Coming California Megaquake Could Plunge Large Portions Of The State Into The Ocean
26 March 2017 GMT
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-24/scientists-warn-coming-california-megaquake-could-plunge-large-portions-state-ocean

[Hitch]

Day 14 over now for me, on an emergency dam repair in CA. Basically, trying to keep a dam from failing and the work is going well.

I can't imagine what the Oroville jobsite is like, but the money spending is crazy on this one. DWR (Dept of Water Resources) is funding our operation. If we can save this dam, and I think we will, it will stop flooding of our aquaduct system here and local homes, and keep Los Angeles full of drinking water.

I was talking to the barge engineer today, I counted 14 DWR guys, in shiny new workvests, on the beach watching us work. Well, our crew, is 1 foreman, 4 pile butts, 1 barge engineer, 1 boat captain, and me, boat engineer. 8 guys, working our ass off driving pile, and we've got 14 assholes from .gov watching us, dick in hand, doing nothing but looking for ways to criticize us. They are literally standing and sitting in chairs watching us.

unbelievable.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.

[Dogman]

Day 14 over now for me, on an emergency dam repair in CA. Basically, trying to keep a dam from failing and the work is going well.

I can't imagine what the Oroville jobsite is like, but the money spending is crazy on this one. DWR (Dept of Water Resources) is funding our operation. If we can save this dam, and I think we will, it will stop flooding of our aquaduct system here and local homes, and keep Los Angeles full of drinking water.

I was talking to the barge engineer today, I counted 14 DWR guys, in shiny new workvests, on the beach watching us work. Well, our crew, is 1 foreman, 4 pile butts, 1 barge engineer, 1 boat captain, and me, boat engineer. 8 guys, working our ass off driving pile, and we've got 14 assholes from .gov watching us, dick in hand, doing nothing but looking for ways to criticize us. They are literally standing and sitting in chairs watching us.

unbelievable.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.

Practical then tactical which is good and with slippery slopes.

All good, unless you have to deal with government drones.

Then downhill.

Sorry u can't toss them overboard

That would be a hoot.

Peace!

Sent using Forum Runner

[Hitch]

Practical then tactical which is good and with slippery slopes.

All good, unless you have to deal with government drones.

Then downhill.

Sorry u can't toss them overboard

That would be a hoot.

Peace!

Sent using Forum Runner

Been wanting to give you a call, but man, I'm tired already. I wake up tired, bust my ass, eat dinner, then sleep. Then wake up again tired.

[Glass]

@Hitch
I think palani has a thread on the productivity of Engineers.

Sounds like you're doing a good job there. Some people do things for ego satisfaction and some just do it because it needs doing. You're efforts are probably going to go by without any fanfare but you can be satisfied that you saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of heartache.

Juans got a few more videos up about progress at Oroville if anyone is interested. Click on one of his earlier videos I linked and take a poke around if you are. I won't link them in.....

[Horn]

They are literally standing and sitting in chairs watching us.

unbelievable.

Your tax dollars at work, folks.

Those are the guys that you are saving by fixing the dam.

[Hitch]

@Hitch
I think palani has a thread on the productivity of Engineers.

Sounds like you're doing a good job there. Some people do things for ego satisfaction and some just do it because it needs doing. You're efforts are probably going to go by without any fanfare but you can be satisfied that you saved a whole lot of people a whole lot of heartache.

Juans got a few more videos up about progress at Oroville if anyone is interested. Click on one of his earlier videos I linked and take a poke around if you are. I won't link them in.....

Thanks Glass, so far the project I'm on is going very well. We have a new operator, who has been working at the Oroville site for the past month. He says things are not good there. The amount of damage the emergency spillway has caused to the failed main spillway is quite large. He thinks they will be working around the clock all through the summer. They have no choice but to use the main spillway if needed. I asked about spring runoff from the snowpack in the mountains, and he said they have to use the spillway.

The good news, it sounds like they secured the dam from failing. Let's hope on that.

On my jobsite, the same thing that caused the spillway at Oroville to fail, has happened. Water undermined the structure and the concrete collapsed. We've already driven a sheetwall protecting the damage and have started loading rock to secure it. There's a platform to drive through the slab underneath, that's been compromised...heck half of it completely fell apart, and they will start drilling through it and pouring concrete. After that, we will place north of 27,000 tons of rock to secure the whole site. Well, that's 500 truckloads of rock coming to our jobsite. That's a lot of rock.

[Glass]

Juan went back to Oroville for the dam repair plan presentation by the DWR.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAY-4-NeB18

Highlights:
They are going to rebuild the spillway in the same location using basically the same structure.
They will shore up the washed away area but they will keep the plunge pool slash canyon area available as an emergency emergency spillway
At the same time they are rebuilding the washed away area they will replace the lower portion of the spillway working from the bottom back up the slope
They expect to have the spillway repaired by November but not completed to the final structure going forward.
It will be functional but have a maximum flow rate of 110.000 CFS. I think thats the number. It maybe 160,000 CFS
They will raise the side wall height in the top portion in this first rebuild stage
They will rebuild the lower section back to the previous side wall height in the first rebuild stage which will limit the maximum CFS flow rate.
Next year they will increase the wall height of the lower section to enable a flow rate of 270,000 CFS

The regular emergency spill way adjacent to the car park will be stepped, extended and fully concreted.
It will have a deep concrete berm at the top which will flow into a concreted stepped section and finished with a deep reinforced wall at the bottom.

They are expecting more rain.
They are expecting to open the spillway again another 3 times before work is completed by November
They expect all flows to be manageable with what they have available now.

[singular_me]

another one of these "cry wolf" warnings

==

Engineers: The next California earthquake could ‘liquefy’ 235-foot-high dam and unleash 29 billion gallons of water onto Silicon Valley
Sources:
Breitbart.com
SanFrancisco.CBSLocal.com
USNews.com
NBCBayArea.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-04-09-engineers-the-next-california-earthquake-could-liquefy-235-foot-high-dam-and-unleash-29-billion-gallons-of-water-onto-silicon-valley.html

[monty]

Time to be concerned


http://youtu.be/Jxp5xOB6H5o

https://youtu.be/Jxp5xOB6H5o

[Glass]

Juan's got another 4 or 5 videos posted to his YT on progress and events at Oroville. I haven't had time to watch them but thought I would mention them if anyone is interested. I think some of it is more in depth explanation of the DWR's presentations from a week or so a go. Might have more on the spring run off monty's post is talking about.

ok so there was a second press briefing on the 13th April. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihj8tYz8CAM

The spill way was also opened on April 15th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65TMuhsKuVM

He did a drive around and talked about the snow pack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1GjuJ5j8nY

[Hitch]

Thanks, Glass, for the videos from Juan.

Well, the dam project I was on is now done, and was a big success. We worked 5 weeks in a row, every single day, to complete it. I finally got home today, and am getting some much needed rest. It was a physically exhausting job, long hours, and most of my body aches from it. On a good note, we all did a great job. The project manager told the owner of my company we did an "outstanding job" on this project.

I've also learned that DWR kept our spillway repair a secret from the public, so it wasn't on the news. All the eyes were on Oroville anyway, so I suppose it's a good thing.

Ah to be home again, and have some free time. Life is good.

[Neuro]

Let the spillway cracking perma-drought commence!

Well done Hitch, any plans what to do with that extra cash?

[Hitch]

Let the spillway cracking perma-drought commence!

Well done Hitch, any plans what to do with that extra cash?

Well, I've saved everything I made on that project. I should probably trade some cash in for PMs though.

After watching Juan's videos in this thread, especially the one about the snow pack in the high country...I think we've got big problems on the way here in CA. There's no place for all this run off to go. Everything's already full, from the rivers to the reservoirs and lakes. We seem to be at max capacity, and there's still record snow fall that hasn't melted yet.

[PatColo]

Dave Hodges, and I guess his "credible contact" have been banging on how the area's been quietly getting militarized. Oldest to newest:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jxp5xOB6H5o/hqdefault.jpg?custom=true&w=336&h=188&stc=true&jpg444=true&jpgq=90&sp=68&sigh=eAnm2zvP208C2YasaPFVmkf-21U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxp5xOB6H5o) 17:49
Look Out Below- Oroville Dam's Spring Run Off Problem Just Started-- Paul Preston (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxp5xOB6H5o)

22,914 views
6 days ago




https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Nqo_B6ePIBM/hqdefault.jpg?custom=true&w=336&h=188&stc=true&jpg444=true&jpgq=90&sp=68&sigh=nmIAQnDtF_j7II93NM0WPDNQ1t8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqo_B6ePIBM) 4:31
Tanks Spotted Near Oroville Dam-We Know Why (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqo_B6ePIBM)

17,272 views
17 hours ago




https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y7RL6b9lQv0/hqdefault.jpg?custom=true&w=336&h=188&stc=true&jpg444=true&jpgq=90&sp=68&sigh=NgkqImSnCbfzCDW6uLUo1bWsZlA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7RL6b9lQv0) 6:23
More Tank Reports In No, California (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7RL6b9lQv0)

2,499 views
6 hours ago

[Glass]

Juan has 2 more videos out regarding the Government reports on the Oroville Dam situation - causes and solutions.

A quick update on the release date of the reports and what to expect. Posted after a 1 hour Press Conference/Teleconference held by the Authorities involved.
Notes that some parts of the reports will be redacted due to national security concerns.
Basically what vulnerabilities there are associated with the Dam will be redacted.
Suggests that repairs may be ongoing until the end of 2018
They are now spilling at a faster rate than the inflows So the dam water level is falling, albeit slowly
They will be dropping the water level below the spillway level and then maintaining it below that to provide room for the remaining spring melt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DsIvTyjMow

Haven't watched this new one yet. I assume it's based on his reading of those "now released" reports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnHfCT_PsVA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnHfCT_PsVA

[Glass]

Watched Juan's DWR Reports Explained video.

There were 3 reports
3rd March
17 March
31 March.

17 and 31 March reports were withheld by DWR under some kind of Strategic Infrastructure acronym rule I can't remember. After pressure they were released but redacted. As Juan points out you can get the gist of most of the redacted material due to context. Not all though as some complete paragraphs are blacked out.

Reports give findings and conclusions on the cause of the spillway failure. As called by you guys from the get go .... poor and inadequate maintenance and some short comings with original design.
Key points:
The original slipway was built on a significant bed of soil and not anchored into bed rock
Poor joint repair
Taking too long to repair
Too much speed of water on the lower steeper portion = too much force for the structural state of the spillway
Possibly too much water volume for design? - I'm not 100% that I not making this one up.
Cavitation was discounted as a significant factor.... although taken into account in repair designs.

2 contracts or projects to effect repair.
Top portion of spillway to be replaced in 1 contract/project
Bottom portion of spillway to be replaced in separate contract/project
They will run simultaneously
Work will be carried out until fall 2017
They expect to have the spillway in place and operational up to capacity of 270,000 CFS by then
Work will recommence in Spring 2018
They expect to enhance the spillway capacity to 305,000 CFS (might be 310,000) by Fall 2018.
They are going to anchor into 30 feet of bed rock.
They are going to incorporate some kind of aeration system to the spillway to eliminate any potential for cavitation. Sounded like some kind of venturi system or something. I didn't grasp it but haven't read the reports myself.
1 of the Powerplant tunnels still undergoing maintenance. So outflows through that channel are restricted.
Total Inflows are 10,000 CFS lower than outflows.
They are carving back the cliff face of the canyon that was carved by the water.
They are working back towards the dam wall.
The idea is to reduce the over hang above the diversion pool.
They are blasting in that area which I thought was interesting. I don't know what the potential is for shockwaves to affect the dam wall. It seems reckless on the face of it.
They are upping the CFS capability of the emergency spillway by 30% (I think) .

[Glass]

New video from Juan.
April 28 - DWR community meeting at Butte County Town Hall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881_j_FiWQo

Looks like lots of DWR people there to talk to the folks and answer questions. Some information, charts, plans, images etc to explain the problems and fixes.

The blasting they were doing is only between the service road on the power plant side (RH facing the dam) up towards the spillway. Not the other side of the service road down towards the diversion pool.

The overflow into the car park area during the emergency was not their main worry in that area. There is a weir running between the spillway and the car park. The wall/berm of this weir is in sections and they were concerned one of the sections might be undermined by erosion associated with a gully that was forming there from the overflow.

Current outflows are 45K CFS. Water level is to drop to 835 feet ASL. Just below the spillway height. Then they will shut off the spillway until the last of the winter melt requires reopening. In flows are between 18K - 29K CFS atm.

Locals were angry, Farmers were pissed off. General unhappiness with lack of transparency in reports and for plans to fix the spillway. Annoyed with the media because 2 million fish were saved but the people were put at risk and very little said about that. Poor allocation of state funds which enabled the problem to occur.

Current rate of outflows is still causing problems for farmers down stream. It's too much for them to manage. It needs to be about half the current rate. ~20K CFS

1 of 2 power plant turbines will not be back on line until end of May.

Locals say that 850 feet is still too high for adequate flood control. Water levels should be spread around a bit more?

Current spend is $247 million so far. $270 million still to be spent on the repairs. Half a billion dollars cost.

Down stream has suffered from 40 years of sediment build up which needs to be flushed out.

They are now saying the maximum outflow capacity will be limited to 100 - 150K CFS until sometime in 2018. I think after mid 2018.

Total regular and emergency outflow capacity will be over 600K CFS. If they used that, it would obliterate everything down stream. In fact down stream has max capacity of 160K anyway. Anything over that will cause extensive flooding. The largest ever recorded inflow was 350K CFS. nearly 15 times current levels.

[Glass]

Juan and family have been on a 700 mile road trip around Shasta County, Sacramento watershed and down the Feather river on highway 70. Has some waterfall footage coming up. Got some new camera gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NaxuXzVht0

This video brings in some information on the impacts down river and in other areas.
Sacramento Valley Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5ietnx0T6mBs6Y2saL3tbA) - apparently good videos of the situation in that area.

The area is a rice growing region. Interviews with at least 1 local farmer. @ 6:20 in Juans video.
Shows bank erosion because the DWR was pushing the water levels up and down too fast.
When the water level is high it supports the bank, but the bank gets saturated.
When they drop the level too fast the bank doesn't dry out and harden properly.
It then caves in or collapses.
Now the bank is damaged in many places so if the water level goes backup a couple feet, the banks have holes everywhere and the farmers fields will flood.
My interpretation: This will be a problem for rice crops, other crops and even grazing as the land is saturated and unsafe for livestock. I'm not even sure if there is livestock in the area.

Oroville is now at 835 feet ASL. Shutoff of spillway should have occurred by now.
With the warming weather they will hopefully will be able to get through the last run off sooner than expected.
This means they can start rebuilding sooner.

[crimethink]

Tanks Spotted Near Oroville Dam-We Know Why

What a load of shit.

[crimethink]

Notes that some parts of the reports will be redacted due to national security concerns.
Basically what vulnerabilities there are associated with the Dam will be redacted.

For those downstream on the Feather River, I'm sure that's very reassuring. :eek:

Just how unstable is the dam, that they have to redact facts for "national security concerns"? Or do they not want people to know the truth? Or both?

[crimethink]

Well, I've saved everything I made on that project. I should probably trade some cash in for PMs though.

After watching Juan's videos in this thread, especially the one about the snow pack in the high country...I think we've got big problems on the way here in CA. There's no place for all this run off to go. Everything's already full, from the rivers to the reservoirs and lakes. We seem to be at max capacity, and there's still record snow fall that hasn't melted yet.

Parking lots of visitor areas at many dams in Northern California are underwater. And when that snow melts...well...

Got into the 80s today...it's coming.

[Neuro]

For those downstream on the Feather River, I'm sure that's very reassuring. :eek:

Just how unstable is the dam, that they have to redact facts for "national security concerns"? Or do they not want people to know the truth? Or both?

I suppose there could be a weakness, that isn't of much concern during normal circumstances, but they could be exploited for a terrorist attack with explosives...

[Horn]

Still pirdy cool at elevation in the west, a slower snow melt should already be in progress.

Well until IF it becomes fast, i have not checked but i have not heard of any quick warming trend on the way.

[Glass]

I suppose there could be a weakness, that isn't of much concern during normal circumstances, but they could be exploited for a terrorist attack with explosives...

Juan was talking about the chatter over the "green patch" on the dam wall. The wall has a wet patch which has been described as a leak or as a seep by different authorities at different times. He points out that the Oroville dam is not a concrete wall dam but rather an earth wall dam. The dam is supposed to be self healing..... I guess until it isn't. Soil, clay, gravel etc is supposed to settle into the seepage areas re-sealing them.

So it would seem the only concrete structures are the tunnels feeding the hydro station and the gates and spillway structure. Everything else is a pile of dirt. This was some thing I didn't realise. I assumed the wall was concrete. This would also explain why they don't like to run the water over the spillway to fast or too low, because it starts to scour the area in front of the spill way on the water side. I'm thinking if the scouring gets too deep it might get out of control?

[Glass]

Juan has posted a couple family holiday videos. Nice to see a family enjoying themselves.

Exploring the Shasta Dam - YT video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZu_AdoZnII).

Hedge Creek Falls. Cave Springs. Sacramento River.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49Djdgybr20

He's got one of those gyro stabilizers and much better audio. The dam video is quite interesting. Shows a model of the dam, powerstation, spillway and how it's all connected. Not allowed to use regular camera's so using cell phone.

[Glass]

Juan does another fly over of Oroville Dam. Nice scenery. The spillway is closed and dry so good opportunity to get the lay of the land.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAWAbslg2vE
Looking at the area lower left (from dam wall side) of the spillway damage and canyon to see the preparations for reconstruction. Clearing of the cliffs, setting up areas for the new fill and construction materials.
Talking about the use of barges and railway to bring in materials and stockpile.
Flies over the lower portion of the diversion pool where the aqueduct diverts water from the river.
Dam is rapidly rising to 850 feet ASL
One more spill planned for 10th through to 22nd?
Will it be enough?
Horn says no it won't and Juan is tending to agree.
This leaves at best from end of May until next winter to get the bulk of the work done.
AND They may be delayed again if they need to open the spillway 1 additional time.
AND They don't appear to have actually started stockpiling materials yet..... other than dirt.
Juan's going to go back for another on the ground visit to the dam to see if he can locate the stockpiled materials.

[Glass]

Deconstruction of the damaged spillway has started. Juans been up in the "Mighty Luscombe" to take another look from above. But first some fun at the airfield playing a game of Flour bombing. Seeing who can drop the bag of flour closest to the target.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf47yW4Wh-Q
Interesting to see some good views showing the true scale of the spillway. It really is massive and hard to grasp from the photo's and video. When looking from the base up and seeing the workers on it. You can see it's as big as a couple freeways across. Looking down from the Dam wall you can see how far and flat it runs out away from the wall before starting to arc over into the diversion pool.

Some great drone footage taken over the spillway during the last spill. Also some good side on footage of the damaged section as they dismantle it.

He's got some other new videos on his channel. Another 1 from the road trip they did recently around the Sacramento watershed region - Burney Falls. Nice looking place. Fresh Trout and a very curious Squirrel. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5LoCHpIZWA) And 1 from recent trail motorcycle riding in the mountains at Colfax Ca (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxp0P_e7fpo).

[Jewboo]

Great new video Glass. Meticulously edited and scripted to give us a clear and full understanding in such a short video. The intro clip of his group, including their gleeful kids, flour-bombing out of their airplanes was also fun to watch.

California neglected to maintain that spillway and their shameless neglect is now costing hundreds of millions of repair dollars. California now begging for Federal Dollars is also shameless chutzpah. Fuck 'em.

[Joshua01]

Not only did they fail to maintain it, they failed to build an appropriate and stable spillway in the first place. It was doomed to fail long after the original contractors cashed the check. American quality strikes again. As long as they got paid it was all good.
Great new video Glass. Meticulously edited and scripted to give us a clear and full understanding in such a short video. The intro clip of his group, including their gleeful kids, flour-bombing out of their airplanes was also fun to watch.

California neglected to maintain that spillway and their shameless neglect is now costing hundreds of millions of repair dollars. California now begging for Federal Dollars is also shameless chutzpah. Fuck 'em.

[Glass]

Juan has posted another couple videos on the progress at Oroville. Sorry have not been able to keep tabs on his channel as much recently.

Some blasting going on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ddkeBYpOEE

Also the first concrete pour as part of the repair and reconstruction. And I think a new fly over as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKoJ0JJkyPs

[Glass]

I watched the most recent of Juans 2 latest videos.

Fly over of the dam site.
Points out where the 1st concrete batching plant is.
All concrete will be trucked the short distance from the plant
Water levels are -ve and falling at 1 foot per day?
About 22 feet until the top of the spill way is above dam water level
1st (lower) half of the spill way has now been removed.
Mainly blasting with some localised hammer work
Good slo mo blasting videos
Blasting was done with nitrate and fuel mix
Press conference teleconference
Juan asked some specific questions about on site activities
Locations of batching plant, equipment placement, access roads etc
Didn't get all the answers but I think he's going to do some ferreting.
Some new DWR drone footage.
500 strong crew by August
First concrete pour happening.
To bring up base levels where natural bed rock is below needed elevations for new spillway
From what I saw of the pour, concrete looked very high compression as you would expect. Would be interested to know what spec it is.
Good thick slurry. High cement ratio. They are booming it in so, again interesting to know the mix.
No reinforcement at this stage.

[Glass]

Juan's got another new update video for us.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TyBS-0Td58
Dam is at about 815 or so feet above sea level.
I think that is about 13 or so feet below the spillway
Inflows are matching outflows at 15K cfs

Another fly over.
Good footage of the entry to the spillway, showing how shallow it is leading in there now
Shows the batching plant for the soon to come reinforcing of the emergency spillway
Has a good video on how they are going to build the retaining wall at the bottom of the emergency spillway using a secant technique
Video is from an Aussie company who specialises in this technique.
DWR drone footage over the main spillway and bed rock area below.
Shows the keying that the workers are doing to the bed rock for better keying of the leveling concrete fill
The leveling fill is being trucked in from Oroville town
Not sure why that is. Perhaps its because of the required mix? I think its a time thing. Too long to build a plant for it on site
They have taken the spillway back another 600 feet? Was expected to keep 1600 feet of it in place but they took it back further
A small amount of blasting remains to be done
There was supposed to be another media event this week. I think Monday or Tuesday so no doubt we'll get another update soon.

[Glass]

This was a nice bit of music and beautiful views

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcO-p_MCKPI

[Jewboo]

Juan has posted another couple videos on the progress at Oroville. Sorry have not been able to keep tabs on his channel as much recently.



Oroville Dam spillway $300m cost has spiraled to $1.1BILLION (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6339333/Officials-California-dam-spillway-ready-rain.html)
:o

[Horn]

Pfft.. only if every spillway could only cost a billion dollars this would've ended a lot sooner than India payin Rubles for bombs only Pakistan will use.

[Neuro]

Oroville Dam spillway $300m cost has spiraled to $1.1BILLION (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6339333/Officials-California-dam-spillway-ready-rain.html)
:o
Still they may not have done the job properly...

From the link:
DWR officials said Wednesday they'll again keep the water level low this winter to try and avoid using the spillway while work continues around it on the emergency spillway, site cleanup, road repair and other related projects.

Hitch earned some monies on that...