{"id":34029,"date":"2020-05-21T06:40:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T06:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/?p=34029"},"modified":"2020-05-22T06:48:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T06:48:43","slug":"edenville-dam-failure-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2020\/05\/21\/edenville-dam-failure-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Edenville Dam failure: the astonishing video of the collapse sequence"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>Edenville Dam failure: the astonishing video of the collapse sequence<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2020\/05\/22\/edenville-dam-breach\/\"><em>Please also read my follow-up post to understand this event.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yesterday <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2020\/05\/20\/edenville-dam-1\/\">I posted about the remarkable and devastating failure of the Edenville Dam in Michigan on Tuesday 19 May 2020<\/a>. There are now <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DJPhotoVideo\/status\/1263276582506037248?s=20\">heartbreaking images online showing the damage that the resulting flood has caused downstream<\/a>.\u00a0 Given the known weakness of the dam, this is an unacceptable situation.<\/p>\n<p>From a technical perspective, the most remarkable aspect of this failure is that the sequence of events that induced the breach is caught on video.\u00a0 I tweeted about this yesterday, but it turns out that the landslide that initiated the collapse was also captured, by Lynn Coleman, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc3u_CHVHJ8\">posted to Youtube by MLive<\/a>.\u00a0 This video is astonishing:-<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Michigan dam failure caught on video\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hc3u_CHVHJ8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>As always we should crowdsource an interpretation of this sequence of events, but allow me to give an initial (and not definitive) interpretation.\u00a0 At the start of the video a small amount of water is seen to have overtopped the dam:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34034\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34034\" class=\" wp-image-34034\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-3.jpg\" alt=\"Edenville dam failure\" width=\"800\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-3.jpg 1207w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-3-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-3-1024x807.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-3-768x605.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-34034\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still from the video of the Edenville Dam failure, captured, by Lynn Coleman, and posted to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc3u_CHVHJ8\">Youtube by MLive<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>It would be tempting to surmise that this was a simple overtopping, but I don&#8217;t think that is correct.\u00a0 I think the video shows that the crest of the dam has deformed and dipped, creating a depression through which water has started to flow.\u00a0 In other words, the video starts with the dam wall undergoing the early stages of failure, which in turn has allowed a small amount of overtopping.<\/p>\n<p>The Edenville Dam failure then develops apace.\u00a0 The slope fails rapidly, initially forming a large toe bulge and there is major deformation at the crest:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34036\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34036\" class=\" wp-image-34036\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-4.jpg\" alt=\"Edenville Dam failure\" width=\"800\" height=\"689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-4.jpg 1107w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-4-300x259.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-4-1024x882.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-4-768x662.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-34036\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still from the video of the Edenville Dam failure, captured, by Lynn Coleman, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc3u_CHVHJ8\">posted to Youtube by MLive<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>The failure is rapid and mobile &#8211; the still below is only two or so seconds later.\u00a0 Note the blurring of the toe of the landslide due to the rapidity of motion.\u00a0 there is also a hint of some dust or vapour in this area, and above the main body of the slide, which is interesting too:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34038\" style=\"width: 811px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34038\" class=\" wp-image-34038\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-5.jpg\" alt=\"Edenville Dam failure\" width=\"801\" height=\"745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-5.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-5-300x279.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-5-1024x952.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-5-768x714.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 801px) 100vw, 801px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-34038\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still from the video of the Edenville Dam failure, captured, by Lynn Coleman, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc3u_CHVHJ8\">posted to Youtube by MLive<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>The landslide has clearly not failed through the full width of the dam as there is no sign of water pouring through.\u00a0 However, it is likely to have left only a very slender thickness of dam in place.\u00a0 I would hypothesise that this rapidly collapsed under the pressure of the reservoir water as a few seconds later water appears on the landslide deposit:-<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_34040\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34040\" class=\" wp-image-34040\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-6.jpg\" alt=\"Edenville Dam failure\" width=\"800\" height=\"772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-6.jpg 1195w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-6-300x290.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-6-1024x989.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/files\/2020\/05\/20_05-Edenville-6-768x742.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-34040\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A still from the video of the Edenville Dam failure, captured, by Lynn Coleman, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Hc3u_CHVHJ8\">posted to Youtube by MLive<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>The full breach rapidly develops after this.<\/p>\n<p>This video is going to be a classic in the teaching of geotechnical failures, but it also clarifies the events that led to the Edenville Dam failure.\u00a0 It would have been simple to ascribe this to a simple overtopping event that occurred when the capacity of the spillway was exceeded.\u00a0 But in reality the events are are more worrying than that &#8211; the dam appears to have undergone a slope failure; a failure of its integrity.\u00a0 This should never occur, and to me it suggests that the problems at the Edenville Dam went\u00a0 further than known issues with the spillway.<\/p>\n<p>Comments and thoughts welcome please.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/2020\/05\/22\/edenville-dam-breach\/\"><em>Please also read my follow-up post to understand this event.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<h4>On reflection 1: Cyclone Amphan<\/h4>\n<p>Cyclone Amphan made landfall on Wednesday and is now bringing heavy rainfall to NE India and Bangladesh.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/south-central-asia\/cyclone-amphan-brings-heavy-rain-destruction-india-bangladesh\">There are some early indications of landslides<\/a>; we await to see the full impact, probably tomorrow or on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<h4>On reflection 2: landslide damage to a chairlift in Alberta<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/liftblog.com\/2020\/05\/20\/landslide-damages-nitehawk-chairlift\/\">A landslide on Tuesday 19 May 2020 damaged a chairlift at Nitehawk Adventure Park<\/a>, a small ski field located in Grande Prairie, Alberta.\u00a0 From the images the damage is serious.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Edenville Dam failure: an astonishing video of the full collapse sequence is on Youtube. It appears to show a geotechnical failure rather than overtopping<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":34038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[71,76,469,29900,725,48,35],"class_list":["post-34029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-landslide-video","tag-dam","tag-dam-failure","tag-featured","tag-michigan","tag-north-america","tag-usa","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.agu.org\/landslideblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}