The Banqiao Dam
The banqiao dam
Causing more than any other dam failure in history, and was rebuilt The DAM FALIURES killed an estimated 171,000 people; 11 million people lost their homes. It also caused the sudden loss of 18 GW of power , the TOTAL of roughly 9 very large modern coal-fired power stations or about 20 nuclear reactors, equaling about 1/3 the peak demand on the UK National Grid. According to the Hydrology Department of Henan Province approximately 26,000 people die from FLOODING and another 145,000 died. In addition, about 5,960,000 buildings collapsed, and 11 million residents were affected. Unofficial estimates of the number of people killed by the disaster have run as high as 230,000 people. The death toll of this disaster was DECLASIFED in 2005
The Banqiao Dam was built in the early 1950s as part of a huge project to control flooding and produce electricity in central China. Despite warnings from hydrologist Chen Xing, the dam was built with only 5 gates. Xing warned that it needed at least 12, although officials disagreed. Almost as soon as the dam was completed, tiny cracks started to show in the sides However, these were patched up by engineers, and the structure was not only considered safe. Although there were problems with the construction of the dam, it was never predicted that it could fail as natural events. Although it is difficult to prepare for something unexpected, such as Typhoon Nina, the damage at the time could have been minimized.
However, typhoon Nina smashed many records, as well as the dam itself. One night in August 1975, Typhoon Nina dropped more than a year’s worth of rain in just 24 hours.
The dam collapsed in the oncoming flood, and other dams further along the river collapsed too. A 10 km wide wave devastated the surrounding areas,. Hundreds of thousands more were affected by the spread of famine which followed the disaster.
How Would How engineers fix it?
Although it is difficult to prepare for
Causing more than any other dam failure in history, and was rebuilt The DAM FALIURES killed an estimated 171,000 people; 11 million people lost their homes. It also caused the sudden loss of 18 GW of power , the TOTAL of roughly 9 very large modern coal-fired power stations or about 20 nuclear reactors, equaling about 1/3 the peak demand on the UK National Grid. According to the Hydrology Department of Henan Province approximately 26,000 people die from FLOODING and another 145,000 died. In addition, about 5,960,000 buildings collapsed, and 11 million residents were affected. Unofficial estimates of the number of people killed by the disaster have run as high as 230,000 people. The death toll of this disaster was DECLASIFED in 2005
The Banqiao Dam was built in the early 1950s as part of a huge project to control flooding and produce electricity in central China. Despite warnings from hydrologist Chen Xing, the dam was built with only 5 gates. Xing warned that it needed at least 12, although officials disagreed. Almost as soon as the dam was completed, tiny cracks started to show in the sides However, these were patched up by engineers, and the structure was not only considered safe. Although there were problems with the construction of the dam, it was never predicted that it could fail as natural events. Although it is difficult to prepare for something unexpected, such as Typhoon Nina, the damage at the time could have been minimized.
However, typhoon Nina smashed many records, as well as the dam itself. One night in August 1975, Typhoon Nina dropped more than a year’s worth of rain in just 24 hours.
The dam collapsed in the oncoming flood, and other dams further along the river collapsed too. A 10 km wide wave devastated the surrounding areas,. Hundreds of thousands more were affected by the spread of famine which followed the disaster.
How Would How engineers fix it?
Although it is difficult to prepare for