We Do a Fair Job With Infrastructure When We Don't Ignore It

The problem is, we ignore it. Building a bridge or a dam is often a big deal. Politicians talk about how great this project will make things. But maintenance is not so exciting, and we tend to ignore the fact that every bit of infrastructure we build will eventually need to be rebuilt, replaced, or demolished. We could, if we were smart, start saving for that expense the day the bridge/dam/whatever is completed. Politicians are not that smart, and so funds for completely foreseeable expenses are never available. Almost never.

On 19 May 2020, shortly before dark the Edenville Dam in Michigan failed. Shortly after that, the dam downstream from Edenville, the Sanford Dam failed. In the aftermath of the disaster two other dams were determined to be in serious need of repair. Actually, the need for repairs was well known even before the disaster. Suits and counter suits had started before the dams collapsed. The owner of the dams wanted to drain the lakes due to the risk. The state didn't want them to do so because of the impact on the environment. After the disaster more legal action was taken.

The Secord Dam, one of the 4 dams in the system that experienced 2 failures that day, was also in need of serious repair. After the Edenville disaster, the money was suddenly available for repairs to the dams in question. You can find the info on that dam repair at The Secord Dam page of the Four Lakes Taskforce site.

Or you could just watch the video below.

Of course that isn't the end of the story, since a new lawsuit has been filed forcing construction on the dams to be suspended. (Construction in the video will be suspended in October if something doesn't change, leaving 4 dams NOT COMPLETELY up to par. Great. Construction suspended on 4 mid-Michigan dams

The suspension is due to an ongoing legal battle that stopped work on the Edenville Dam back in June.

Now, work on the Smallwood Dam will be suspended in September. Work on the Secord Dam will be suspended in October, and work on the Sanford Dam will be suspended in January.

Homeowners in the area are objecting to the size of the assessments. Several properties, which are not buildable and have a market value of $5000, have each received an assessment of $33,000.

This is Jordan Mowbray's Secord Dam EMERGENCY SPILLWAY complete! Water Re-Directed - Drone - Dam Collapse #construction #dam

At least the engineers seem to have gotten things right.