A civil engineering disaster 177 years in the making.

[HardDrive]

Interesting story developing in the Columbus area. A large man made lake, Buckeye Lake, is under threat because of decades of poor planning. Basically, people were allowed to build into an earthen dam that was created the mid 1800s. Now the damn is compromised, and the economy of the entire area is under threat. Replacing a 4 mile long earthen dam is not going to be cheap!

Report: Buckeye Lake dam in danger of failure | The Columbus Dispatch

[Crowbob]

Major infrastructures all over the country are in peril. Most are not due to poor planning as much as due to poor governance.

Gonna be some very expensive fixes. The country needs to print more money!

[ckelly78z]

Buckeye lake is one of three lakes that are near to and supply water to Columbus. I have never boated, or even been to Buckeye lake, but frequent Deleware and Alum Creeks lakes which are North of the city and provide good boating, swimming, and fishing. The depth finder found 60" deep near the exit damns on both lakes. I don't know if Buckeye lake is as deep as the other two, but what a catastrophe if it breeched.

[SteveDraz]

60" isn't very deep

[flatbutt]

I live on a large (50 acre) pond and our dams were red flagged by NJ DEP years ago. It took more than a decade to get engineering and design approved by the state. And our dams are nowhere near the size of the one being discussed.

[Scuba Steve]

Why in the world would they let people build into the dam?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Two words: "deferred maintenance"

In other words politicians have put off maintaining infrastructure (see also "kicking the can down the road") so they could spend the money that should have been spent on such things (and often involves misappropriation of funds earmarked for those things in the first place) on more visible vote-buying schemes and pork projects targeted at groups most likely to vote for them as a result.

The whole system is so inanely corrupt. We desperately need an across-the-board, lifetime limit on government service which would solve most if not all these sorts of problems. I propose a lifetime max. of 20 years of government service in any capacity - appointed, elected or hired. Exception for military service only. Applies to federal, state and local - once you've done 20 years in any capacity, that's it - you're done. Go get a real job in the private sector.

[island911]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

. Replacing a 4 mile long earthen dam is not going to be cheap!

dunno about that. Looks more like a 4 mile long earthen berm than a dam. ...holding a swamp a few feet higher until it becomes a lake.

Dump more dirt as needed. Ask the Dutch to consult, or beavers, if needed.

[Crowbob]

The can-kicking is endemic throughout government. In Michigan property taxes finance the schools (in part) so they spend way too much money on other stuff so that when the schools begin to crumble and the test scores fall and the classrooms go out of control the powers that be pull the heart strings and lament the reluctance of taxpayers to pay for 'education' for the chirren.

Why the military exemption, P-O-P?

[Tervuren]

Not from there, but were the homes and docks put in the dam 177 years ago?

Or is this a problem 30, 20, 10 years in the making?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

once you've done 20 years in any capacity, that's it - you're done. Go get a real job in the private sector.

I'd cap it at 6-8 yrs. with a requirement of having worked in the private sector before going into gov't.

[island911]

Originally Posted by SteveDraz

60" isn't very deep

This.

[dennis in se pa]

I am sure this issue did not just occur yesterday, and does not have to be resolved tomorrow. And I am also sure there is a quick and less expensive repair method that a proper engineer can come up with, than what will actually occur. But three years from now they will still be doing studies and wasting millions of dollars of the taxpayers money, while killing all the businesses that depend on this lake. I bet strategically placed concrete pillars inserted/constructed into the dam would resolve this issue.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by SteveDraz

60" isn't very deep

Sorry guys, I got my marks mixed up (60 FEET deep). 60 inches sounds like a swamp that I wouldn't want to pull drinking water from. These lakes started out as a river at the bottom of a slight valley and dammed across one end to make all three lakes in the 3000-5000 acre range.

[island911]

sure doesn't look like a 60' tall dam



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[widebody911]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Applies to federal, state and local - once you've done 20 years in any capacity, that's it - you're done. Go get a real job in the private sector.

The problem is, they do exactly this - as lobbyists! Or vice-versa. Regulatory capture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[GWN7]

Article says 3' deep in winter and 6' deep in summer.

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by island911

sure doesn't look like a 60' tall dam

)

Look at Delaware and Alum Creek dams, Those lakes are the ones I said were 60' deep.....not Buckeye lake.

[reachme]

Look up Johnstown PA.
Major issue where earthen dam gave way and took out the whole valley and towns downstream in 1889.
Somehow they built another earthen dam in the same spot that gave way in 1977 and created an even more devastating flood that channeled through a valley and picked up debris in one town to more effectively devastate the next one down the line.
Google Johnstown flood, this is not unique to Ohio.

[wdfifteen]

I heard about this on the radio on the way home from Balmer (Baltimore) today. They're talking about draining it IMMEDIATELY. YIKES!