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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (214365)	8/3/2007 3:15:34 PM
From: MJ	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793957

Iktomi Yes, I should but quite frankly not sure I want to know. Lived in an area with towns built on top of the mountains and then towns built in the valleys. Flashfloods were a common occurrence. mj

To: epicure who wrote (214365)	10/30/2007 3:31:46 PM
From: goldworldnet	Respond to of 793957

Major Iraqi dam in danger of collapse 58 minutes ago news.yahoo.com Iraq's largest dam is in danger of collapse and hundreds of thousands of people are at risk from a massive inundation in Mosul and Baghdad, according to US documents released Tuesday. US experts have warned Baghdad that the Mosul dam in northern Iraq could buckle under the water pressure and let loose a 20 meter (66 foot) wave onto the regions below, based on assessments by the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE). "The Mosul dam is judged to have an unacceptable annual failure probability," the ACE said in a draft report. "In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world .... If a small problem (at) Mosul Dam occurs, failure is likely," the ACE concluded last year. The ACE comments were included in a review of dam fortification work by the US Special Inspector General for Iraqi Construction (SIGIR) dated October 29 and released on the Internet Tuesday. The SIGIR report also includes a May 3, 2007 letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki from US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and US military commander General David Petraeus in which they warned of the risk of a massive disaster if the dam breaks. "A catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam would result in flooding along the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad," the two US officials said, noting that just 50 kilometers (30 miles) downstream is the city of Mosul, with 1.7 million people. "Assuming a worst case scenario, an instantaneous failure of Mosul Dam filled to its maximum operating level could result in a flood wave 20 meters deep at the city of Mosul, which would result in a significant loss of life and property. The SIGIR report also said the US 27 million dollar project launched two years ago to help strengthen the dam has been marred by incompetence and mismanagement. The report said SIGIR's most recent inspection concludes that the project has made no headway in improving grout injection operations, and said that poor oversight had allowed millions of dollars in construction and equipment to go to waste. "At the time of our site visit, approximately 19.4 million dollars worth of equipment and materials delivered to the Mosul dam ... currently do not provide benefit to the Ministry of Water Resources," said the SIGIR report. The Mosul dam, completed in northern Iraq in 1984 to supply water to surrounding populations, irrigation, and to generate power, was constructed atop gypsum and limestone soils that erode with exposure to water, leaving cavities beneath the structure. Since its completion the Iraqi government has sought to shore up the foundation by injecting mortar-like grout into the subsoil and cavities and controlling seepage. Nevertheless, the SIGIR report said, sinkholes have regularly appeared near the dam, including one very close in 2005. The letter from Crocker and Petraeus called on Maliki to take urgent mitigating actions to lessen the immediate danger to the dam, including keeping the water in the reservoir at a level significantly below full to reduce pressure on the dam. They stressed that the grouting operation should "remain a high national priority" and that emergency alert and evacuation operations were needed for the dam and downstream. * * *