Are we Holding Back the Water?
NewCali News
As the water level rises at the Oroville Dam to the 901 foot level there are new concerns over the its safety. Recent pictures obtained by NewCali News show there are two boom lifts inside the inner two radial arm gate sluiceways.
The eight radial arm gates (known as Tainter gates) are the main gates used to hold back the water in lake Oroville as the water level rises to 813 feet. As the lake level rises the pressure on the gates becomes greater. At the current lake level of 889 feet the water is nearly 10 feet above the tops of the gates.
Why the Boom Lifts?
While the picture appears to suggest the boom lifts are holding up the gates in all likely hood the lifts are there to inspect the gates. They’re not possibly holding the gates up. A lift like that could not exert enough force to effect the gate with that much water behind it. They appear to be inspecting the gates under load.
Damaged Gates and Headworks
The gates and the headworks they are attached to work as a unit to resist the insurmountable pressure created by the lake water pressing against the gates. The gates and supportive headworks have fallen into disrepair over the last 20 years and were even more damaged when the lake overtopped the emergency spillway in February 2017. Damage includes a 14 foot crack that appeared on one of the walls that supports a gate. Several of the gates are not in alinement with the guides causing the gates to leak. Leakage on botht the spillway and from the radial arm gates is NOT suppose to occur under any circumstance from a dam.
These pictures do indicate the use of the spillway gates will not be used anytime soon to prevent the use of the emergency spillway. Which begs several questions about the what will the DWR do with the expected 7-12 inches of rain expected in the next few days.
Watch the above You Tube and note there are no leaks from the 8 Tainter Radial Arm Gates before the spill on April 2, 2019.
