Iraqi Dam to collapse...

[Babbler]

Iraqi dam 'at risk of collapse'
The largest dam in Iraq is at risk of an imminent collapse that could unleash a 20m (65ft) wave of water on Mosul, a city of 1.7m people, the US has warned.

In May, the US told Iraqi authorities to make Mosul Dam a national priority, as a catastrophic failure would result in a "significant loss of life".

However, a $27m (£13m) US-funded reconstruction project to help shore up the dam has made little or no progress.

Iraq says it is reducing the risk and insists there is no cause for alarm.

However, a US watchdog said reconstruction of the dam had been plagued by mismanagement and potential fraud.

In a report published on Tuesday, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said US-funded "short-term solutions" had yet to significantly solve the dam's problems.

SIGIR found multiple failures in several of the 21 contracts awarded to repair the dam.

Among the faults were faulty construction and delivery of improper parts, as well as projects which were not completed despite full payments having been made.

'Fundamentally flawed'

The dam has been a problem for Iraqi engineers since it was constructed in 1984.

It was built on water-soluble gypsum, which caused seepage within months of its completion and led investigators to describe the site as "fundamentally flawed".

In September 2006, the US Army Corps of Engineers determined that the dam, 45 miles upstream of Mosul on the River Tigris, presented an unacceptable risk.

"In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world," the corps warned, according to the SIGIR report. "If a small problem [at] Mosul Dam occurs, failure is likely."

A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad
US letter to Iraqi government

The corps later told US commanders to move their equipment away from the Tigris flood plain near Mosul because of the dam's instability.

The top US military commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, and US ambassador Ryan Crocker then wrote to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki urging him to make fixing the dam a "national priority".

"A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad" the letter on 3 May warned.

"Assuming a worst-case scenario, an instantaneous failure of Mosul Dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave 20m deep at the city of Mosul, which would result in a significant loss of life and property."

If that were to happen some have predicted that as many as 500,000 people could be killed.

Alarm bells

Iraqi authorities, however, say they are taking steps to reduce the risk and they do not believe there is cause for alarm.

The Iraqi Minister for Water Resources, Latif Rashid, told the BBC that a number of steps were being taken to tackle the problem, including a reduction in water levels in the reservoir and a round-the-clock operation to pump grouting into the dam's foundations.

Work would also begin next year on a longer-term plan to make the foundations safe by encasing them in a concrete curtain, he added.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the debate over the dam has gone on largely behind the scenes so as not to cause public panic or attract the interest of insurgents.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7069109.stm

Published: 2007/10/30 12:10:28 GMT

© BBC MMVII

... like everything else in today's Iraq.

 

[dutchfire]

And it's right there in the area Turkey is going to invade!
I can so see the Turks accidentally blowing up the dam while bombarding the PKK, and thereby whipping away the entire country.

 

[philippe]

a fundamentally flawed dam...
they have to rerout that water somewhere, while during constructions becuase if it has to be repaired, it will be a expensive and a time-consuming work.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the debate over the dam has gone on largely behind the scenes so as not to cause public panic or attract the interest of insurgents.

this is wrong, inform the public and maybe they can work "toghether" for this instance, if insurgents try to blow up the dam, there goes their support, their militants and their heavily fortified neighbourhoods.

 

[sirdanilot]

Another fuel to the fire that is Iraq...

 

[JollyRoger]

The important question is, does this put any of the oil fields in danger?

 

[Bronx Warlord]

... like everything else in today's Iraq.

Since it's been a problem " months after compleation " in 1984... prehaps it should read " like everything else in yesterdays Iraq " ?

Another fuel to the fire that is Iraq...

The irony... it's water

I can so see the Turks accidentally blowing up the dam while bombarding the PKK, and thereby whipping away the entire country.

Or making ground operations in Northern Iraq a nightmare and extremely costly in terms of money, equipment and lives. Never mind the insurgency turning it's attention northward to " the ottomans "

 

[Masquerouge]

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says the debate over the dam has gone on largely behind the scenes so as not to cause public panic or attract the interest of insurgents.

Well then. Oops?

 

[Che Guava]

Maybe there's an upside: we can rename Kurdistan "Waterworld". Kind of like Venice, but angrier...

 

[EconomistBR]

I am sure Allah won't let it collapse

 

[emzie]

I am sure Allah won't let it collapse

u r so funnie

 

[Bronx Warlord]

 

[emzie]

If I was fat, I'd do that.

 

[Narz]

Let this be a lesson in the imperminance of all life.

 

[cubsfan6506]

Maybe there's an upside: we can rename Kurdistan "Waterworld". Kind of like Venice, but angrier...

This gave me a full blown belly laugh.

 

[Jawz II]

Well I'll be damned.