The Wild Story of the Teton Dam Failure
SMRTR summary
In June 1976, the Teton Dam in Idaho catastrophically collapsed just one year after completion, killing 11 people and destroying entire towns downstream. Built on deeply fractured volcanic rock, the dam's erodible silt core developed internal tunnels through a process called piping, causing it to fail within five hours. Investigations found the Bureau of Reclamation had ignored known geological risks, choosing cost-cutting over proven safety measures.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to Practical Engineering.
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