Jacob
Douma
replaced with a properly designed slab. At our final meeting, the board discussed its
studies and conclusions with EBMUD. They said, "We'll think about it and call you back
later.
They never called us back. I found out later that they didn't call back because their cost
estimate of the work required to make the dam safe was over million. There were
other places where the additional power could be obtained for much less cost, so they
dropped the whole matter.
On something like that, when you analyze those things, what kind of impression do you
get of the people who designed and built that kind of structure?
Well, I never knew the people who designed and built that structure. They certainly
lacked experience in those structures years ago.
You had a lot of those problems to deal with though, right?
Right. I had other similar problems on other projects. The basic problem regarding the
Dam was that hydrology wasn't developed in those days to the point
design of
where anyone thought of a probable maximum flood.
So one of the big things that changed for you was the definition of probable maximum
flood?
Yes. The Corps of Engineers and FEMA used the probable maximum flood as the design
flood.
Rafferty Darn, Canada
Did you run into similar situations in other consulting jobs where they weren' t built
because of the costs required to come up to the Federal standards?
No, I didn't. In the United States, any dam that failed and caused excessive property
damage and/or lose of life is now designed in accordance with Federal safety standards.
I was on the board for Rafferty Dam in Canada, which was constructed even though it did
safety standards. One Canadian member of the board, who was the top
not meet
hydraulic engineer in Canada, said that designing Rafferty Dam for the maximum probable
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