Article

2007-10-30 Iraq

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Posted by Seafarious 2007-10-30 01:41|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 The effort to prevent a failure of the dam has been complicated by behind-the-scenes wrangling between Iraqi and U.S. officials over the severity of the problem and how much money should be allocated to fix it.

Have you tried reminding them of what happened when the "Palestinian" politicians decided what sort of shape their settling ponds were in after the UN warned them they were in dire need of repair?

Posted by gorb 2007-10-30 04:32|| 2007-10-30 04:32|| Front Page Top

#2 Mosul Iraq: The most dangerous dam in the world
Damn!
The largest dam in Iraq is in serious danger of an imminent collapse that could unleash a 3 trillion-gallon wave of water..
[sayeth the Lord] A great flood in the land of two rivers will go forth and lo, ~~Baptise~~....make em a offer they can't refuse.
US Army Corps of Engineers concluded in September 2006, "If a small problem [at] Mosul Dam occurs, failure is likely."
Insh'allah
Almost immediately after the dam was completed in the early 1980s, engineers began injecting the dam with grout, a liquefied mixture of cement and other additives. More than 50,000 tons of material have been pumped into the dam since then in a continual effort to prevent the structure from collapsing.
LOL, Check the original Contract; Grout sub-section, clause 1. cost + plus + plus + plus
Seepage from the dam funnels into a gushing stream of water that engineers monitor to determine the severity of the leakage. Twenty-four clanging machines churn 24 hours a day to pump grout deep into the dam's base. And sinkholes form periodically as the gypsum dissolves beneath the structure.
toad bukkake

Posted by Red Dawg">Red Dawg 2007-10-30 05:52|| 2007-10-30 05:52|| Front Page Top

#3 What kind of idiot would build a dam on gypsum ie a rock who dissolves in water?

Posted by JFM">JFM 2007-10-30 06:34|| 2007-10-30 06:34|| Front Page Top

#4 The Army Corps has recommended building a second dam downstream as a fail-safe measure, but Iraqi officials have rejected the proposal, arguing that it is unnecessary and too expensive.

Please keep in mind who will be blamed if the dam collapses. Hint: It won't be the dithering Iraqi ~~politicians~~ sleazebags.

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-10-30 06:59|| 2007-10-30 06:59|| Front Page Top

#5 Wonder how many of the politicians saying this is no problem live in Mosul? Sounds like they went to the Ray Nagin school of public administration.

Posted by RWV 2007-10-30 08:29|| 2007-10-30 08:29|| Front Page Top

#6 I thought the Three Gorges Dam was a worse problem.

Posted by Eric Jablow">Eric Jablow 2007-10-30 08:53|| 2007-10-30 08:53|| Front Page Top

#7 Don't forget the Aswan dam... Egypt: A one bomb state!

Posted by Excalibur 2007-10-30 09:02|| 2007-10-30 09:02|| Front Page Top

#8 Hahahaha. Arabs crack me up.

Posted by jds 2007-10-30 09:22|| 2007-10-30 09:22|| Front Page Top

#9 As I read this story, I am reminded of the 3rd harbor tunnel in Boston. 15 Million dollars to build; originally estimated at 2 Million at it's inception. A combination of State and Federal Tax dollars to pay for it.

Falling 3 ton ceilings, leaks, worries about a ship running into the top of tube under the harbor. Having to replace cement walls, grout up the wazoo to stop the leaks, icicles forming on the walls in winter, water coming up through the floor. Substandard concrete, cost overruns, lawsuits, mismanagement and as the final straw, increased tolls to use the damn thing and maintain it.

The guys in Iraq didn't by chance use the same contractors?

Posted by Delphi 2007-10-30 09:31|| 2007-10-30 09:31|| Front Page Top

#10 Not the same contractors, the same purchasing policies.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-10-30 09:43|| 2007-10-30 09:43|| Front Page Top

#11 "I am your dam guide, Arnie, please don't wander off the dam tour and please take all the dam pictures you want. Now are there any dam questions?"

Posted by Crusader 2007-10-30 10:21|| 2007-10-30 10:21|| Front Page Top

#12 Hey Delphi, Iraq, so that's where Whitey Bulger has been hiding all these years!!

Getting his skim off their construction too!!

Here's an extra credit problem for the readers....How much of the $15 million spent on the Ted Williams tunnel go to buy off the South Boston political mafia?

Posted by AlanC 2007-10-30 10:29|| 2007-10-30 10:29|| Front Page Top

#13 #9. Pardon me, Delphi, but shouldn't that be "B" as in 2 billion/15 billion dollar boodoggle?

Posted by GK 2007-10-30 10:33|| 2007-10-30 10:33|| Front Page Top

#14 Take the first step, if living in Mosul, move to higher ground, about 66 feet higher. This party has just begun, wouldn't want to miss the big finish.

Posted by wxjames 2007-10-30 10:51|| 2007-10-30 10:51|| Front Page Top

#15 Thank you for catching my mistake. You are correct the cost was in the Billions with a Capital B.

According to Wikipedia:
The Big Dig has been the most expensive highway project in the U.S.[1] Although the project was estimated at $2.8 billion in 1985 (in 1982 dollars), over $14.6 billion had been spent in federal and state tax dollars as of 2006. [2] The project has incurred criminal arrests, escalating costs, death, leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials. The Massachusetts Attorney General is demanding contractors refund taxpayers $108 million for "shoddy work."

Not exactly one of the shining success in Boston.
However, on the other hand, "The Boston Red Sox" brought back some of the shine to replace the awful tarnish called the Big Dig. :-)

Posted by Delphi 2007-10-30 11:14|| 2007-10-30 11:14|| Front Page Top

#16 Alan C,

A few years back I was in Ireland with my wife. There is a village called Barna; just outside of Salt Hill in Galway. There was a pub called the 12 Pins. It has since been rebuilt has a combination hotel, bar and restaurant. But before the rebuild though, I went in for drinks with a neighbor. The following year, the FBI reported that Whitey was seen in Ireland. Guess where? The 12 Pins in Barna. It would have been interesting experience had he been at the same time as myself and he figured out where I was from.

Posted by Delphi 2007-10-30 11:29|| 2007-10-30 11:29|| Front Page Top

#17 What kind of idiot would build a dam on gypsum ie a rock who dissolves in water?

It was built in the 1980's, which puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Saddam Hussein regime. And since it was a dictatorship, there's no blaming anyone else...

Posted by ptah">ptah 2007-10-30 12:10|| http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org]">[http://www.crusaderwarcollege.org] 2007-10-30 12:10|| Front Page Top

#18 "The Army Corps has recommended building a second dam downstream as a fail-safe measure, but Iraqi officials have rejected the proposal, arguing that it is unnecessary and too expensive."

This sounds just liek the US and its politicians.

Hmm, does this mean we really have won the war? Heh.

As for the Redsox, best team money can buy, and its paid off well the past few years (2 sweeps in 3 years in the series is a pretty good accomplishment). They've become the NY Yankees with all the bought talent minus Steinbrenner.

Too bad they are in the AL where they dont play real baseball (Damn the DH) all the season. It wouldn't hurt them, they showed that in Colorado.

/petpeeve_about_baseball

Posted by OldSpook 2007-10-30 12:11|| 2007-10-30 12:11|| Front Page Top

#19 Delphi,

Yeah the Big Dig was more than expected but then it took years to get the environmental review completed so engineering could finalize. Also, didn't it go through 28 designs for the Charles River bridge before all the pols, greenies and business people could agree? Not to correct you but the submerged tunnel itself is not where the ceiling tiles collapsed but on the I-90 connector tunnel.

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2007-10-30 13:15|| 2007-10-30 13:15|| Front Page Top

#20 The project has incurred criminal arrests, escalating costs, death, leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials.

Are they talking about the Big Dig or the war in Iraq?

Posted by Zenster">Zenster 2007-10-30 13:31|| 2007-10-30 13:31|| Front Page Top

#21 Couple of questions:
Are US and coalition forces out of the potential spill way / flood plain?
What is the likelihood of the jihadis launching an IFD (Improvised floating device) and have it go bang when it hits the dam?

Posted by USN,Ret. 2007-10-30 13:58|| 2007-10-30 13:58|| Front Page Top

#22 I go through those damn tunnels once a week. Every Friday night the Ted has been closed for "work" which means that at mid-night there's a backup from the Sumner tunnel (old one) back into the airport. Arggghhhh!!!

Yes it was the connector that lost its ceiling.
Also it was definitely with a B.

A friend who was one of the project engineers on the connector told some interesting stories about pay-day in Southie.

Posted by AlanC 2007-10-30 14:13|| 2007-10-30 14:13|| Front Page Top

#23 The Arabs, as a whole, are a buncha mooks.

What will they screw up next?

Posted by OldSpook 2007-10-30 14:22|| 2007-10-30 14:22|| Front Page Top

#24 I thought Romney had brought all his management talents to bear and the Ted was fixed.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-10-30 14:35|| 2007-10-30 14:35|| Front Page Top

#25 The Ted was saved, but Mary Ann and the Oldsmobile are still missing.

Posted by wxjames 2007-10-30 14:49|| 2007-10-30 14:49|| Front Page Top

#26 Had a nice parade up here today, OS. Too bad you missed it...

Posted by tu3031 2007-10-30 15:20|| 2007-10-30 15:20|| Front Page Top

#27 "The Ted was saved, but Mary Ann and the Oldsmobile are still missing."

Damn, #25 wx! I knew about Mary Jo - there was another one?

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2007-10-30 18:07|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/] 2007-10-30 18:07|| Front Page Top

#28 Oldmobile confusion with the S.S. Minnow

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-10-30 18:18|| 2007-10-30 18:18|| Front Page Top

#29 So its not THREE GORGES??? "Seeping... into a gushing stream" > sniff, sniff, like NOAH and the Mediterranean. D *** NG IT, the "LITTLE DUTCH BOY" FINGER TRICK doesn't work wid this one!

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-10-30 18:25|| 2007-10-30 18:25|| Front Page Top

#30 "Dam those beavers! Dam them!"

Posted by Mike 2007-10-30 18:29|| 2007-10-30 18:29|| Front Page Top

23:49 darrylq
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23:03 Red Dawg
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22:57 DMFD
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