11 October 2010

Images of the top surface of the Ajkai Timfoldgyar / Kolontar tailings dam

Posted by Dave Petley

The index.hu website has a set of images taken of the top of the dam at Ajkai Timfoldgyar / Kolontar.  These are helpful in confirming observations from the aerial imagery featured yesterday that a section of the tailings dam has moved.  This images shows the pipe running across the top surface of the dam:

As expected, the image shows that the main block shown has moved to the right and subsided.  However, it is less clear to me as to whether at the remainder of the dam to the breach has actually moved.  However, newspaper reports suggest that this wall is now considered to be so unstable that it is likely to collapse.  Attempts are underway to build a bund to contain the resultant spill.

Meanwhile, there is now some post-event Google Earth imagery available for download here.  Whilst the resolution is not really good enough to see exactly what has happened at  the dam itself, it rather clearly shows the flowpath of the debris: