6 terrible hydroelectric dam failures in the world
Over the past 100 years, there have been many disasters involving giant dams around the world. Each incident is a disaster, causing huge losses of life and property for the affected countries.
1. December 1, 1923, Italy:
Part of the multi-tiered Gleno arch dam built on the Gleno River in Valle di Scalve, Italy, collapsed just 40 days after the reservoir was filled, killing 356 people.
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| Gleno Dam with the central break still remaining today. |
When the incident occurred, recovery efforts were a complete failure. An estimated 4.5 million m3The floodwaters spilled from a height of 1,535m into the valley below. The disaster only stopped when the water level was only 186m.
According to subsequent investigations, the cause of the Gleno Dam accident was largely subjective. Lack of funds caused the contractors to change the design and the new design was not suitable for the type of foundation that had been constructed before. In addition, poor workmanship and errors in the use of materials such as the use of grenade nets used in World War I to reinforce parts of the structure as well as the use of poor quality concrete led to the disaster.
2. Flood season of 1975, China:
According to the Henan Provincial Hydrological Service, the collapse of the Banqiao Dam on the Ru River in Henan Province killed 26,000 people in floods and another 145,000 in subsequent famine and disease. In addition, more than 5 million homes were destroyed, leaving an estimated 11 million people homeless. These figures were kept secret for many years and were only made public in 2005.
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| Image of Ban Kieu hydroelectric dam in 1975. |
This is a dam built on the Ru River in Henan Province, China. A serious accident in 1975 caused the dam to collapse and cause heavy damage. It was later rebuilt.
The incident also destroyed a huge source of energy supplying China. With a capacity of up to 18 GW, equivalent to 9 thermal power plants or 20 nuclear reactors, this hydroelectric plant is considered capable of meeting 1/3 of the peak demand of the entire United Kingdom.
3. November 6, 1977, USA:
Heavy rains caused the Kelly Barnes Dam, an earthen dam in Georgia, USA, to collapse, killing 39 people and causing property damage of up to 3.8 million USD.
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| On November 6, 1977, heavy rains caused the Kelly Barnes Dam to collapse. Photo: pddnet.com |
According to the subsequent investigation, the cause of the accident was that the engineers had miscalculated the slope of the dam during construction. This changed the dam's center of gravity and its ability to withstand heavy rain. The dam was never rebuilt and a memorial was built at the site of the accident to attract tourists.
4. August 11, 1979, India:
The Machchu-2 Dam on the Machchu River, Morbi, India, broke, sending a giant wall of water sweeping through the town of Morbi, causing huge damage and killing up to 25,000 people.
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| Image of the Machchu-2 earth dam, India, broken due to heavy rain. |
The cause of the incident was heavy rains upstream, causing the 4km long earthen dam to disintegrate. The dam's design capacity was only 5,663 m3/s, while the heavy rains that year caused the flow to reach 16,307 m3/s, 3 times the capacity of the structure.
Within 20 minutes, the floodwaters rose from 3.7 to 9.1 meters, submerging the entire industrial town of Morbi, located 5 kilometers behind the dam. During the reconstruction process, the new dam was strengthened to withstand a flow of up to 21,000 m3/S.
5.July 15, 1982, USA:
The Lawn Dam, built in Rocky Mountain National Park, USA, broke, causing 830,000 m3The floodwaters killed three campers in the area and caused $31 million in economic damage.
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| Image of Lawn Lake Dam 23 years after the incident. |
Lawn is a natural lake with a water surface area of 66,000 m2at an altitude of 3.3 km above sea level in the Rocky Mountains. In 1903, a group of farmers in the area built an earthen dam to increase the lake's surface area to 190,000 m2 with the purpose of providing water for irrigation in the area.
When the dam broke, a huge amount of water flowed down the valley below at a speed of 510 m.3/s created a large trench under the valley. At this terrible speed, the entire lake dried up in just about 1 minute.
6. July 23, 2018, Laos:
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| An aerial view of the flooded area in Attapeu province after the Sepien Senamnoi hydropower dam collapsed. Photo: Getty |
The dam break flooded 10 villages downstream and completely isolated Sanamxay district, including 5 villages in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, Laos, completely flooded, including May village, Hinlath village, Nhaythe Sanong Tay village, Thaxengchan village, Thahin village, over 1,300 households with 6,600 were affected.
Rescue work is currently facing many obstacles due to difficult roads. The Central Rescue Committee is coordinating with agencies in Xekong, Attapeu provinces and the Lao Army's 5th Division to deploy a rescue campaign and provide food and supplies... The cause of the dam collapse is believed to be heavy rain over many days.
