Fixing the Most Dangerous Dam in the World
12 hours ago
- #infrastructure-engineering
- #geological-challenges
- #dam-safety
- Mosul Dam in Iraq is one of the tallest dams in the Middle East, built in the 1980s on a foundation of gypsum rock that dissolves in water, leading to continuous seepage and sinkhole formation.
- Since its construction, operators have maintained a nonstop grouting program, injecting materials into the foundation to plug voids, but the process is a temporary fix against ongoing dissolution.
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers labeled it 'the most dangerous dam in the world' in 2006 due to catastrophic failure risks, potentially flooding towns along the Tigris River and parts of Baghdad.
- A backup plan, Badush Dam, started in the 1980s but stalled halfway due to geopolitical conflicts, while initial U.S. efforts to aid grouting in the 2000s were poorly executed and ineffective.
- ISIS seized the dam briefly in 2014, disrupting grouting operations and heightening safety concerns, leading to a major rehabilitation project from 2016 to 2019 by an Italian company with international support.
- The rehabilitation involved drilling over 5,000 boreholes, injecting 41,000 cubic meters of grout, and implementing modern systems, significantly improving the dam's safety and reducing permeability.
- Despite improvements, the dam requires ongoing maintenance grouting as a semi-permanent solution, with more permanent fixes like a cutoff wall or completing Badush Dam considered but costly at billions of dollars.