On August 17th one of the worlds largest hydroelectric plants, Sayano–Shushenskaya in Russia, suffered a major catastrophe. [more inside]
posted by Confess, Fletch on Sep 4, 2009 - 40 comments

Skip this one if you're sick of posts about Iraq or comment threads containing the word "Heckuva", but what would happen if Mosul's "Saddam Dam" ("Sadd Saddam" in Arabic) collapsed?

it could lead to as many as 500,000 civilian deaths by drowning Mosul under 65 feet of water and parts of Baghdad under 15 feet

Good, because the US Army Corps of Engineers rates chances of collapse "exceptionally high". Top that, God.
posted by paul_smatatoes on Nov 10, 2007 - 88 comments

A Damned Good Dam Site. The Fort Peck Dam in Montana, authorized by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 and completed in 1940, is the largest hydraulically filled dam in the United States. The website is a wonderful compendium of history, technology, tragedy, personal stories, photographs, a webcam and much more. The dam also has the distinction of being featured on the very first Life Magazine cover, photographed by Margaret Bourke-White.
posted by amyms on Mar 1, 2007 - 18 comments

Using enough explosives to topple 400 10-storey buildings, China has blown up [bbc news .asx file] a temporary barrier used to hold water back from the controversial Three Gorges Dam.
posted by tnai on Jun 6, 2006 - 36 comments

Glory Hole
posted by rubin on Jul 11, 2005 - 61 comments

The Grand Coulee dam in northeast Washington state is the largest concrete structure in the United States. First conceived as a smaller dam, the idea of a large project won out and the Coulee's size was limited only by the fact that, if bigger, we'd flood Canada.

It wasn't until the New Deal philosophy of putting folks to work (even songwriters) materialized that the dam was given a green-light. The project, 30 years in development and 9 years in construction, was by all means a rousing success. Unless you were a displaced native. Or a fish.
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies on Apr 28, 2005 - 14 comments