[The Sons of Liberty]

The Oroville dam is a classic example of what happens when a government becomes so large and bloated that the only thing it accomplishes is its continued existence and ceases to perform its actual function.

I'm curious - Is the Oroville Dam a unique design, or are there possibly several others scattered around that could experience the same problems?

[KC Burke]

Dams, bridges, tunnels and highways are something we have learned how to build in the last few centuries but the methods, dangers and techniques are always being updated.

I spent some time involved with large clear-span steel structures. Aircraft hangers and the like. The rigid main frame that spanned 120 feet in 2000 weighted about the same as the one that spanned 60 feet in 1965 and is engineered for more variables with greater weld quality.

Likewise the bridge that failed in Minneapolis would carry the loads but had no redundancy for component or connection failures that would come with age.

There are some dams like Hoover that were in the right spot and really done with ageless design in mind but most aren’t that way.

We now build for seismic conditions everywhere based upon what seismic exposure is from history — few knew of the New Madrid risk in Memphis to St. Louis area in 1950, now every designer does. So even a good design in 1950 isn’t likely to cut the mustard in 2017.