Wired takes a look at the
planning of some cool demolition projects:
Demolition began: 2013 | Duration of project: 3 years
California’s San Clemente Dam opened
in 1921, and today its reservoir is choked with silt. That means an
earthquake or flood could send a wall of mud sliming down the Carmel
River and the valley below, damaging more than a thousand buildings. So
dam owner California American Water and state and federal resource
agencies decided to take it down. Dynamite isn’t an option because of
the dirt and water that would spew forth, so engineers decided to move
the river instead. —Eric Smillie
Cut a Notch
Crews are going to cut a
450-foot-long canyon through the ridge behind the dam and carve a new
river channel around the sediment to neighboring San Clemente Creek.
“I’m not aware of any other dam removal project that’s looked at that
type of option,” says Richard Svindland, director of engineering for
California American Water. “River rerouting is tough to do.” This
Herculean task, the largest dam removal in state history, will involve
building a diversion dike to direct the water along its new course.
Demolish the Dam
To make way for the water, workers
will haul 380,000 cubic yards of sediment from San Clemente Creek (where
the new river will run) and dump it on the main heap of silt, which
will remain permanently. Then they’ll pick the dam apart with hoe rams.
Eventually, the rerouted river will flow through the spot where the
structure once stood.
There's some awesome stuff in the article.
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