Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 10.36
Jet tube release from Glen Canyon Dam during a 2008 high-low experiment. (Courtesy of
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.)
supersaturated. Exposure to excess or supersaturated total dissolved gas can result in “gas bubble
disease” or “gas trauma” in ish and other aquatic organisms, which can be lethal. The condition is
similar to the “bends” that divers encounter. Beeman et al. (2003), for example, discuss TDGS and
gas bubble disease below Grand Coulee Dam. Gas bubble disease will be discussed in greater detail
in Chapters 14 and 18.
Often too, the water released from lower levels of the reservoir pool is devoid of oxygen and has
high concentrations of reduced materials (e.g., methane, hydrogen sulide, and ammonia). A variety
of methods have been used to improve the quality of reservoir releases by adding oxygen, from oxy-
gen injection above the dam to hydropower autoventing turbine technologies, and others that will be
discussed in Chapters 17 and 18.
10.5 PRETTY DAMMED OLD (DAM FAILURES AND DAM SAFETY)
Any man-made structure can fail, and dams are no exception. However, the impact of a dam fail-
ure can be catastrophic, often resulting in considerable loss of life and property. One of the most
catastrophic dam failures in U.S. history was the Johnstown Flood, which is the subject of a highly
recommended book by David McCullough (1987). The dam was a 72 ft.-high embankment dam,
created as a reservoir for the canal basin in Johnstown, PA, and built between 1838 and 1852.
On May 31, 1889, the dam failed, largely as a result of mismanagement and neglect. Its failure
resulted in a lood wave reported to be 36 in. high and a half mile wide passing downstream through
Johnstown, resulting in an oficial death toll of 2209, but hundreds more were lost (Figure 10.37).
Other major historical U.S. dam failures include:
•
St. Francis Dam, California, failed in 1928, 450 killed
•
Baldwin Hills Dam, California, failed in 1963, 5 killed
•
Buffalo Creek Dam, West Virginia, failed in 1972, 125 killed
•
Teton Dam, a new Bureau of Reclamation dam in Idaho, failed during its irst illing in
June 1976, killing 11 people and causing over $1 billion in damages
•
Laurel Run Dam, Pennsylvania, failed in July 1977, killing 40 people and causing over
$5.3 million in damages
•
Kelly Barnes Dam, Georgia, failed in November 1977, killing 39 students in a bible college
downstream
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