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With a small dam the water can sometimes be drained, allowing repairs to be done safely. But imagine trying to drain the Hoover Dam to repair cracks at
by Rexxar 11y ago
With a small dam the water can sometimes be drained,
allowing repairs to be done safely. But imagine trying to
drain the Hoover Dam to repair cracks at the bottom--it
can't be done
I don't understand why they think it's a problem to drain the dam. It's done regularly to check and repair them. (Every 30/40 years, at least in France).
Recent video of this in France : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JflFg5un5zg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JflFg5un5zg
It is this dam, this is not a small one : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_de_Sarrans https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrage_de_Sarrans
- psuter 11y agoAccording to their respective Wikipedia articles, the lake behind the Hoover Dam has a volume 108x larger than the lake at Sarrans. [1] It's unclear whether the same techniques apply. [1] http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=32.22+km^3+%2F+296*10^6+m^3 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=32.22+km^3+%2F+296*10^6...
- Rexxar 11y agoIMHO, the main parameter seems to be how many time is needed to fill/empty the dam and to apply a reasonable ratio to ensure the dam is working 95% of the time. From Wikipedia on Hoover Dam: "Filling of Lake Mead began February 1, 1935, ... ... In the latter half of 1936, water levels in Lake Mead were high enough to permit power generation ..." To empty Hoover Dam once every 60/80 years doesn't sound absurd to me.
- hyperbovine 11y agoGive us a few years, we'll drain it for you. --Love, the Western US.
- notlisted 11y agoBased on my last visit to the Hoover dam, draining it would be little or no problem at all these days. Water levels are incredibly low.
- ChuckMcM 11y agoCaveat that it would require trucking in water to Las Vegas it was suggested to take advantage of the drought to work on the sediment levels and do potential maintenance. Not something you can just decide on the spur of the moment though. A sadder thing is that while the Marinas that are now on dry land have a chance to do some upgrades/maintenance, they have no cash since they are very day to day based on the cash inflow from slip fees. That is a tragedy I think, you could completely rebuild the piers and develop a much more durable infrastructure for future use I would expect.
- lallysingh 11y agoI'm surprised this isn't an underwater robotics project.