Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir Dam Restoration Project

Annapolis, Missouri

Considering the number of dams and levees around the country that are in urgent need of repair and restoration, it's understandable that the failure of the Taum Sauk Upper Reservoir Dike in December of 2005 wasn't exactly national news. A 700-ft. section of the dam gave way, and 1.4 billion gallons of water surged down Proffit Mountain, roughly 90 mi. southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. No one was injured, but the path of destruction, a barren strip of rock, where the water uprooted all vegetation, snaked into a nearby state park, and came close to a highway. To rebuild the dam—which was determined to have failed due to substandard construction design and practices—crews recycled the existing rock fill, and created the world's largest roller-compacted concrete dam in North America (with 2.8 million cubic yards of the stuff). Just one example of the logistical challenges involved with this massive operation: since access to the remote site required sending buses full of workers down winding mountain roads, crews simply upgraded their route, adding new pavement and additional guardrails and intersections. This is the kind of unsung labor that's needed to reverse a network of water-related infrastructure that's taking on the dimensions of a national emergency.

source:http://www.popularmechanics.com