Whaley Bridge Evacuated

[kinderscout]

Afew pictures from Whaley bridge and the fire engines at Buxton B&Q

[kinderscout]

Nothing can go north bound out of Buxton only east and west.

[eggsarascal]

23 minutes ago, EdwardC said:

Firstly the volume of water dropping out of the sky came as a surprise, and they weren't prepeared. Secondly, by the time it became necessary to open the flood gates it would have exacerbated the flooding already taking place downstream.

Where are you getting this information from? The Goyt had only just gone in to flood, hundreds of thounds of gallons could have been released and caused little affect downstream. Readings from Marple Bridge.

[Gary Prentice]

53 minutes ago, EdwardC said:

Firstly the volume of water dropping out of the sky came as a surprise, and they weren't prepeared. Secondly, by the time it became necessary to open the flood gates it would have exacerbated the flooding already taking place downstream.

Has no one noticed the monsoon like rains that have been occurring over the last few years ffs. When it rains for an hour and that rainfall fills a bucket in he garden it's raining somewhat.

 

I blame global warning..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark J]

1 hour ago, Gary Prentice said:

Has no one noticed the monsoon like rains that have been occurring over the last few years ffs. When it rains for an hour and that rainfall fills a bucket in he garden it's raining somewhat.

 

I blame global warning..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Climate change)

[Woodlover]

The authorities have no excuse with this and who ever is in charge needs sacking and the company should generously compensate the village folk who have been inconvenienced, and the RAF ,pigs ect.

In 2017 the Oroville dam in California US had a similar situation to this but on a bigger scale, it made mainstream news here in the UK and it should have opened the eyes of all old Dam owners all over the world.

The problem in Cali has only just been fixed , every dam owner in the world should have taken note at the time and inspected there own old dam`s and taken measures to ensure it could not happen to them. Blaming the weather is bullshit.

Looking at news footage as the Helicopters drop of their ton bags it is plain to see that the concrete slab spillway lacks metal re-bar and no solid foundations or piles , again similar to the Cali one. 

Why at the wettest time of the year was this old dam allowed to be full when the owners knew of its possible weakness?  If they did not know then they should have done more in the first place to know.

[doobin]

36 minutes ago, Woodlover said:

The authorities have no excuse with this and who ever is in charge needs sacking and the company should generously compensate the village folk who have been inconvenienced, and the RAF ,pigs ect.

In 2017 the Oroville dam in California US had a similar situation to this but on a bigger scale, it made mainstream news here in the UK and it should have opened the eyes of all old Dam owners all over the world.

The problem in Cali has only just been fixed , every dam owner in the world should have taken note at the time and inspected there own old dam`s and taken measures to ensure it could not happen to them. Blaming the weather is bullshit.

Looking at news footage as the Helicopters drop of their ton bags it is plain to see that the concrete slab spillway lacks metal re-bar and no solid foundations or piles , again similar to the Cali one. 

Why at the wettest time of the year was this old dam allowed to be full when the owners knew of its possible weakness?  If they did not know then they should have done more in the first place to know.

Apparently it had it's annual inspection not so long ago and that was also a special ten year inspection- passed with nothing untoward mentioned..

 

Sounds like the inspection process and guidance needs revamping. Which could lead to billions of pounds worth of improvements needed up and down the country. Not sure if the govenment has the stomach for that.

[woody paul]

Years ago near me they built a new weir all finished looked lovely just 2 months later the river flooded washed the whole thin away.

It was do to some of the bricks were water ran over put in up side down and water got under washing under structure away. 

Looks the same 1 small crack un seen and that's it.

[openspaceman]

15 hours ago, woody paul said:

Years ago near me they built a new weir all finished looked lovely just 2 months later the river flooded washed the whole thin away.

It was do to some of the bricks were water ran over put in up side down and water got under washing under structure away. 

Looks the same 1 small crack un seen and that's it.

You have it.

 

If you look at the early pictures you can see vegetation growing through the joints in the slabs, once water gets through these and  scours out a tiny bit of soil under the slabs  the static water give the slab a bit of buoyancy, then when the velocity of water flowing over the slab increase the Bernoulli effect (same as sucks petrol from a carb's venturi) can actually suck the slab up a bit.

 

I imagine at this time of year they like to keep the reservoir full, in order to service all the extra lock movements generated by boating holiday makers, as this would normally be a dry period. Exceptional rain and limited means to discharge it and a full reservoir meant the dam was over topped  at the spillway as it was supposed to but the construction of the spillway plus failure of the waterproofing led to this loss of soil. The soil is what protects the clay core, which is what makes the dam watertight plus the shear weight of soil is what resists the hydrostatic force of the water, this is why it's serious, the potential loss of more mass of soil by scouring if the dam is over topped again.

 

It is probably just another phenomenon  of a more energetic weather system.

 

Much of the above from discussion with the owner of a narrow boat I occasionally crew who has an old style engineering degree.

[Woodlover]

6 hours ago, openspaceman said:

as this would normally be a dry period

 This time of the year for the UK is the wettest time, July and August.

6 hours ago, openspaceman said:

  the static water give the slab a bit of buoyancy,

I don't think the water would be static, it was moving as you can see all the voids under the slabs. Water had washed away some soil before the slabs collapsed, it did not collect or stay put until collapsing. The ground being soil and the slope it was on would not allow water to gather and be static, if it was clay or solid or on flat ground then yes.