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Whaley Bridge Evacuated


furnessvale

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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

He said concrete slabs on water-retaining structures should have "water bars" in between the joints to stop water being able to get through. However, he was not able to see any bars in photos of the collapsed spillway.

 

"It looks like the slabs are not reinforced with steel," he said. "There has been ingress of water either through cracks or through the joints between the slabs.

 

Typical journalese - find a local 'expert' and quote him.  It is a load of nonsense.

 

The concrete lining of the spillway dam is not a 'water-retaining structure' as such.  I built 4 huge water-retaining structures in Abu Dhabi in 1989 which comprised independent concrete units (to allow for differential movement) that had water bars which comprise a flat rubber bar with a cylindrical bulb on either edge which is cast into the concrete units on each side, to make the joint effectively 99.99999% watertight.  No-one would apply such specialist techniques to a dam spillway.  If it was decided that water should not seep between the slabs, a typical polysulphide rubber sealer/filler would be injected into the gaps, as has been witnessed by many boating folk I am sure.  Sea walls are sealed in that way.

 

The slabs are simple gravity slabs, not expected to suffer from any stresses once they have been put in place.  Like patio slabs, they are only reinforced if it is expected they might crack during installation.  Concrete slabs laid on the downstream slope of a dam could only have been cast in-situ and would not normally be reinforced.  Of course, as has been stated several times, the design assumes the soil below the slabs is compact and will not erode to the point where it leaves voids so the slabs are partly unsupported.  Failure of the slabs is only a symptom of a more deep-rooted problem - in itself it is not the main issue.

Edited by Murflynn
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1 hour ago, andy3196 said:

The pumps are being used to supplement the draw down valves. See the report from "New Civil Engineer"

 

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/whaley-bridge-dam-engineers-reduce-reservoir-target-level-06-08-2019/?eea=SHFEcFNZN2c1RDVaaXBlSHFNUmxGRm0xaFIvYldLajdGWVdEcXlRODh1WT0=&n_hash=63&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTkdZMk1URXpNREV4Tm1WaiIsInQiOiJma3RKclhoT3BqTHhqVU9Ed2c0VmhlQUdsdWZ2WWhRcEo3ODBEdGRVS0cxZTVtNVRKZ3FwVFRYRU03ZU8rUnBVUG5oMTNyRWt1MmhzM1ppa3hKMDhsZTU2eFBwd0ZnbDZ2RHlqenVwTEp2XC9xQVhXcXpCN2VjTkpKSXI4WVRUck0ifQ%3D%3D

 

"We opened the emergency values and sandbagged the top of the weir. Once we had done that and started to get pumps on site, we actually broke the crest of the auxiliary spillway weir to try and increase the flow down that direction. Doing this brought the water down below the primary weir level.”

Now that is odd.

 

As far as I can see, it is the Auxiliary slipway that has failed. The Primary spillway runs from the side of the dam and across the bottom.

 

How much faith do we have in somebody who doesn't know which spillway is which

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3 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

I am in full agreement with you, subject to the minor modification shown. Unless, of course, your expression of gratitude to an imaginary deity was purely figurative!

 

It was the emergency services wot did it.

 

 

 

Have got to the age where I am keeping all options open !

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22 minutes ago, PaulD said:

Have got to the age where I am keeping all options open !

HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term.

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order, for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in
Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore is extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A

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5 hours ago, Theo said:

Something that I don't understand and don't think has been explained in the thread:

 

Why are they using pumps?  Won't the draw down valves do that job and not use any energy?

 

 

Because the draw down valve would have been slower and not so easily controlled?

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3 hours ago, LancaCanal said:

Are there any photos of the dam and spillway's condition in the years prior to the resident reservoir-keeper's redundancy? That might make an interesting comparison to more recent pics.

 

There's Google streetview imagery from the top walkway showing some growth and dated 2014.

 

MP

Edited by MoominPapa
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39 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT

 

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term.

 

The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:

 

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

 

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

 

One student, however, wrote the following:

 

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order, for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:

 

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

 

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in
Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

 

So which is it?

 

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore is extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

 

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A

 

Brilliant!

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On 05/08/2019 at 17:08, Tony Brooks said:

It does not take a degree to know from experience that when weeds and trees start to sprout up between the concrete slabs on your drive that over time the slab will tilt because the soil under it has been washed away.  That is not waffle that is proven fact as far as I am concerned.

I have has a concrete drive for 37 years and the worst that has happened is some grass between the slabs.  It is still level and firm despite periodic flooding of the garden.

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19 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

I am worried that a wildlife preservation review was not carried out before the Chinooks were drafted in.  How many rare species were living in that part of the spillway before the aggregate was dropped on it?

I would think it was a very low priority given the circumstances. I doubt if any spotty oiks were harmed during the operation.

Edited by Flyboy
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24 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

I am worried that a wildlife preservation review was not carried out before the Chinooks were drafted in.  How many rare species were living in that part of the spillway before the aggregate was dropped on it?

The only rare species that has been lost from the area is the dam keeper, I wonder if they did a risk analysis back then............

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4 hours ago, PaulD said:

No it's not. Boyles Law wouldn't lead to any conclusion about thermal effect so the University is crap.

When I said "brilliant" I meant it was funny. I don't give a Donald Duck if it is genuine, or scientifically correct. Charle's law and Boyle's law are of no great importance to me these days. I do however enjoy a little humour, which is what this post was intended to be.

Edited by Guest
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5 hours ago, Señor Chris said:

This joke is so old it pre-dates the internet by at least a decade.

 

 

Well I laughed.

 

I also pre-date the internet by at least a decade but our paths (mine and this joke) had not crossed before so I, for one, am glad Alan posted it.

 

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1 hour ago, catweasel said:

When I said "brilliant" I meant it was funny. I don't give a Donald Duck if it is genuine, or scientifically correct. Charle's law and Boyle's law are of no great importance to me these days. I do however enjoy a little humour, which is what this post was intended to be.

My comment about Boyles law wasn't serious , apologies if it came over as criticism. I was going to add that Hell is having a cassette loo but didn't want to start another diversion.

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6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

 

This bit doesn't quite stand up to analysis.

 

It might turn out that one of the multitude of religions is actually bang on the money and all the proles who by pure luck subscribed to that one, will actually get saved from burning in hell. Therefore not ALL souls necessarily go to Hell. 

 

Hope that helps.....

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34 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

Talking of wildlife. Bit mean on all the fish in the dam......

The fish were probably better looked after than the residents.  The authorities have mentioned several times that they have carefully lowered the level such that the fish do not have to be evacuated. ?

 

George

 

ps I have just read on a local facebook page that the fish ARE now to be evacuated so they can completely drain the dam.

Edited by furnessvale
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