Infrastructure Maintenance? It Is the Fault of Global Warming

I thought it was climate change, but I must be mistaken, because they talk about Global Warming in the article. Fears German dam could collapse as severe flooding hits Europe | New Civil Engineer

The Steinbach dam is a 90-year-old dam, which is at risk of failing. It is located in the Rhine-Sieg district, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The primary means of releasing water from the reservoir is not working.

The bottom outlet of the Steinbach dam is still not working and an overflow pipe remains in place to drain more water.

It doesn't appear that an emergency spillway was built into the dam when it was designed. I take it to be that overflow pipe was added recently.

Engineers and the fire brigade worked through the night last night and this morning to pump water from the reservoir, reducing the water level by around 2cm.

For those of you not conversant in the metric system, that is less than one inch.

The article linked above has some good information, but the image of the dam that is included is of the dam prior to any problems.

For an image of the dam showing the erosion of the dam's face, we have to turn to a British paper, The Sun. (Which is not the greatest news organization in the world.) RACE AGAINST TIME Germany floods – Unstable dam at risk of COLLAPSE as death toll hits 180 and Angela Merkel visits. The only thing I can recommend at that link is the first photo of the dam. The rest of it seems to be designed to cause panic. It is The Sun.

I am not a dam engineer, but in learning about them through the Oroville dam near-disaster in California, and the Toddbrook Reservoir near-disaster in Britain, I would think the shrubs and trees growing in the earthen portion of the dam are a problem.

German authorities have ordered the evacuation of 4500 people, and with more rain in the forecast it seems unlikely that they will be allowed to go home any time soon.

And Global warming? Well the fact that a 90-year-old dam hasn't got a working drain, and that it was last "maintained" in the late 1980s is clearly not an issue. It is all your fault for that cheeseburger you had.

Armin Laschet, the leader of the North Rhine-Westphalia region, blamed the extreme weather on global warming.

Because of course he did. And even if he is right, that dam, which is in one of the most populus states in Germany, should have been in working order.

Every bit of infrastructure requires maintenance. This isn't a question of a few potholes. This is the kind of infrastructure that can kill people when it fails.