Low Head Dams: Hidden Dangers

[@Never_Cursed0]

I have no idea why this was recommended to me but it's a great video and I am now fully aware of the dangers of low head dams 👍

[@Montana-Skies]

Mr.Ballen perhaps

[@dannyromero752]

The more you know👐

[@paulloveless9180]

Literally same lol

[@colinjohnston5734]

I swear to god these should be part of school children’s curriculum maybe for 8th graders. I still remember the rail safety. I would remember something this scary.

[@Scodel]

*God

[@silversmoke6]

Absolutely. These dams are far too common and their dangers are not understood by most. But I don't think teaching kids about them is enough - there should be country wide changes to these dams. Something as simple as creating steps or levels on each dam would reduce the hydrolic jump enough to prevent drowning. Even having breaks using vertical walls every few feet across a dams face would break up the current enough to allow someone to escape or hold on to something. They really don't need to be designed the way they are.

[@johnbrady9589]

Mr. Wright and Mr. Kingery, Thank you so much for making this video. This video will save lives. My brother almost drowned in a low head Dam.

[@ext93]

Wow that dam at 8:30 looks horrifying. Great vid. I only recently learned about the danger that can result from hydraulic jump at a low head dams. The power of water is no joke

[@tomjohnson4253]

Yes it does

[@derekrupp7844]

The boil on that one is insane. Ain’t gettin out!

[@silversmoke6]

From what I recall, that dam killed two firefighters in the 70s after they attempted to rescue a boy who's fishing boat got pulled in. They were in a motor boat, and were dragged into the boil approaching from upstream. I think 4 people died that day. The boy, two fire fighters, and a second set of would be rescuers who were pulled in like the firemen. One man from the second crew of three was killed too.

[@nirmaleva]

Thank you for sharing this video. Low head dams look deceptively harmless. Hopefully this will bring awareness to how truly dangerous they are.

[@jmwilson2306]

No clue this hazard existed. So glad I found it and watched it. I just started kayaking and now I'll always be aware out on the rivers. Thank you for the video

[@VM-yd6zq]

I think this is why you always walk the river before you get into it.

[@k9er233]

@@VM-yd6zq Good point, always scout ahead. Now we have a very useful resource of information in Google Earth. You can look over the whole stream or river from put-in to take-out on satellite imagery. You can "scout from space" so to speak. I still like to see it for myself on a new stream to get a close up look at any hazard, but the satellite view is at least a good start. Most areas also have rafting and kayaking/canoeing clubs that have helpful information about hazards, as well as access points. 😁

[@silversmoke6]

Be safe and avoid these things like the plague

[@13CDallas]

Pass this great information on to your family members and friends especially adventurous kids. Thanks for putting this on

[@derekrupp2613]

I had a friend drown in a low head dam in Sheridan, Wyoming during the spring runoff. It was a six foot drop and the pool of water below was at least 15 feet deep. He jumped off the dam and came up once and that was it. They had to use grappling hooks to get him out.

[@wrightwater7719]

That's terrible, Derek! Thanks for sharing your experience and condolences on your friend.

[@imdtown]

@@wrightwater7719 You are so welcome. I have been obsessed with low head dams ever since. They make the hair on the back of my neck stand up

[@derekrupp7844]

Ya the kid who drowned in Sheridan Wyoming was Brett Robb. He was only 14 and jumped off the damn right when summer break started. The low head damn on Big Goose Creek. The water was really high due to spring runoff. Fortunately they ended up removing that dam! The water was so deep and the drop off was at least 6 feet high. His friends confirmed that he popped up one time and dragged him under for good! Very eerie. For some reason the map doesn’t show any fatalities in Wyoming.

[@silversmoke6]

​@@derekrupp7844 such a needlessly death. The more I see about these things the worse they seem to get. I can't believe no large scale efforts have been put in place to change their design.

[@derekrupp7844]

@@silversmoke6This happened 36 years ago almost to the day. I am obsessed with low head dams because of what happened to my friend. I educate people as much as I can about their dangers. I can’t even imagine how scary it would be to die in one of these. Just awful

[@CharlesWBevan]

Thank you for the excellent presentation concerning low head dams. I had a general concept of the dangers, but this presentation gave me more info I was not aware of. Well done!

[@gersonbn8415]

It actually scary seeing the rescue team get caught by the dam

[@VoltaDoMar]

Phenomenal video. When Dams Attack

[@nicholashetmanski5518]

Alot I learned thank you. I had friend that played around them before lucky nothing happened but still things can happen.

[@VM-yd6zq]

I never could understand why so many rafters die in the springtime in Colorado. This video makes the dangers clear.

[@anazakosek6501]

Thank you. Never heard about this.

[@tomsellout9576]

15:00 all I could think about was being swirled around in that mess and coming face to face with the prop of the second boats motor...

[@teddypabian7858]

RIGHT, i guarantee one of them died to that dumbass driving the boat right into them

[@alanmonaghan8970]

I don't feel like enough is done to spread the word of how dangerous these are. I knew they were powerful and therefor dangerous but I didn't KNOW HOW dangerous. It's terrifying stuff actually.

[@timeforchange2539]

I'm a whitewater kayaker and this is just sad. People just don't understand the power of water.

[@derekrupp7844]

A lot of people don’t understand that rivers can form the same type of hydraulic. A lot of kayakers know exactly what to do and even surf low head dams and holes on the river.

[@RideOp74]

Thank you for sharing this excellent video.

[@wrightwater7719]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@rogera2317]

Thank you for sharing this

[@edithagoff8996]

“Now what?” ...one of the last audible comments during the excruciating video of the kayaker.

[@supasoda9030]

Exactly! Now what? Go call for help, he's drowning. Smh. It's so irritating, especially when they're standing by a sign that says "Stay out of the dam". But that didn't apply to them like most ppl who experience tragic accidents think.

[@Realsovietholyman]

now you film your sons death , total fail , sit on top , no skill at all , piss poor PFD.

[@dinkumthinkum4247]

@@supasoda9030 Oh, please. Like David Hasselhoff is going to grab him and power through the jump to safety.

[@Gizziiusa]

@@Realsovietholyman i hate that the video was cut so short. did you read somewhere the demise of the kayaker? did he drown ?

[@Gizziiusa]

@@Realsovietholyman nm, he survived. based on other comments. good day

[@englishruraldoggynerd]

Fantastic video. I hope that people get to see it.

[@supasoda9030]

All these family members would've been witnesses to his death. Smh While standing by a sign that said "Stay out of the dam".

[@Pursc248]

damn i remember being a kid and jumping off these damns into the down river side. Thank god I did this one time and the water was low so it was like a damn. no water went over it. shit good to know.

[@Tuberuser187]

Same, where I lived as a kid they had turned a natural stream into a series of ornamental lakes and stormwater drainage and there was many sets of weirs between each section and we used to "white water raft" with small inflatables, especially when it rained and made it "more exciting". I dread to think what could have happened to us, no-one ever told us this.

[@b_gumm]

Thank you for sharing

[@petertwining5729]

A great video with so much important information in, awesome guys and thanks for the share, you've probably saved lives in showing this. :)

[@mstfortrump4859]

WOW. I had no idea!! Thank you.

[@MadCatMaddie]

Great instructional video. Thx gentlemen!

[@the.santos.lives.]

man, that was a powerful eyeopener.

[@OxHeadup]

I can’t believe a second boat went into the same area as the first one that just capsized. 🤦‍♂️ 15:00

[@michaelstewart7036]

What are you're thoughts on the inflateable resque crafts designed for swift water/low head dam resque

[@UFCANT]

Why don’t they have two on either side of the dam with cables that can be lowered to save people?

[@VM-yd6zq]

Perhaps the speed of the water driving the person into the cable might hurt them or the kayak?

[@JHurst-pw3oi]

They don't no witch way is up? Well I do...... THE ONLY WAY IS UP BABY 😂😂

[@sliceofheaven3026]

It also looks from that video that the river is unusually high at this time of the year and seems to flow very rapidly.

[@rohi7597]

Great work professor, Im planning to simulate prototype CFD model of low head dam and wooden log flowing over dam in FLOW 3D . Need your help

[@Gizziiusa]

just go with the Apex 24S. Works every time.

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

"We had the best training..." 19:28 Performing CPR without pinching the nose for artificial breading.

[@resqjason2]

ive never artificially breaded someone.

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

@@resqjason2 Good one! I'm sorry, I'm French and my computer told me it was the proper spelling! My computer is a great humorist. I kinda like it. So, I won't correct my typo! Thanks for the comment, you make me laugh.

[@Tadesan]

Lol

[@robertkoleczko3987]

Usually, I watch slasher films or some kind of Exploration movies, once a week, to see bad people kill innocent people. In movies, just for fun. But this video, reminds me on " Faces of Dead or Traces of dead" because our two engineers, talking about " live" Mortalities, Like they were talking about the last teatime. But of course, very good video!!

[@nikstone2420]

You can take all the dam pictures you want.

[@ujification3504]

Omg the dam 1:48 Did he/she survived?.

[@shanefraser1054]

I'm pritty sure that was the dead kayaker they were mentioning in the video.

[@paulloveless9180]

What happened to the dude at the beginning? Was he ok!?

[@ChristopherPuff]

Damn safety officials

[@Milo_Olo]

Why not just place a horizontal railing (metal, rope, bungee cord whatever) before the dam. Kayakers are then able to stop themselves and pull themselves to the side.

[@eeelizzz]

Agreed. Something!

[@ALGfunk]

What if you try to swim away down deep with the leaving current?

[@gemcutter187]

Good luck, if your head isn't being bashed against rocks or logs/other debris, you're going to have a tough time figuring out which way is up or down or away

[@Gizziiusa]

gemcutter187 makes valid points, however im under the impression thats what Russians try to do to escape it. there is footage of them being courageous (i'd say bordering on stupidity) saving their fellows. they were jumping into it whilest have a rope attached to their waist, grabbing the victim...then others would pull them both out.

[@imdtown]

Bosher’s Dam in Virginia just claimed the lives of two beautiful young women. 12 people went over the dam and 2 lost their lives. June, 2nd, 2022. Believe it or not the drop off is 12 feet at Bosher’s dam! The group tried to get out of the water before going over but the current was too strong.

[@steinerquer]

Standing waves ar they dangerous ?

[@kirbsyde8965]

If they're watching fireworks then it would have been dark. That has to be one of the most terrifying things I've ever heard. From complete peace & joy floating on the river to drowning to death in the dark in the blink of an eye.🙁

[@maxasaurus3008]

Better signage and run lines from shore to shore with buoys before and after the dam thing.

[@peterl4614]

TELL YOUR CHILDREN! ESPECIALLY YOUR BRAVE FEARLESS SONS!

[@user-tb2jy9lu3d]

Nowadays they can use a Creature Craft/Waterwog lowhead dam rescue craft. It can literally go right up to the face of the dam. Even if it slams into the dam face intentionally or accidentally, it doesn't matter and it will just bounce off from it no matter how much water is going over. At 7:16 The amount of oxygenation in the water is also alarming in addition to the recirculating current itself. You can't swim in billions of bubbles causing you to sink as they rise. Not all dams have this, of course...anyone know why? 13:40 will always puzzle me. Why in the world did they think they would be able to use a pole to "push off" from the dam? I don't work in any rescue agency at all and I could have told them that was a terrible idea. There might be be 3-4 feet of water flowing over the upper side of the dam and the force there is absolutely enormous. You can't "push off" from the physical dam and won't even be able to get the pole far enough into the water before it is pushed away by the water with a lot more force than you can push against it with. They should have gotten a helicopter and let someone down on a rope in a harness to grab each person, wrap a strap/tie them off and yank them them out to the side. 16:34 is also very odd. Why would they try to pull them UPSTREAM back over the dam instead of DOWNstream?

[@karlmadsen3179]

One would have to be dam stupid, I mean ignorant of this dam danger to disregard the warnings.

[@evlynealeshire5850]

Karl Madsen: “One would have to be dam stupid, I mean dam ignorant, of this dam danger to dam disregard the dam warnings.” FIFY 😉

[@musclerussell8109]

I could have died so many times as a kid playing around dams I got lucky

[@D7mSupra]

If I got in this situation.. I would attempt to try to hug the bottom and ride the current out the back of the boil as close to the bottom as possible and hope to be spat out

[@VM-yd6zq]

It looks like there is a deep pool then a shallow spot that rolls you back before you can get into the shallow water.

[@user-uo1gg9rx7w]

Some low dams are 8ft ... no one is held accountable for all those deaths. Seriously, without the constant drowning fatalities at the low dams and rescue missions at the low dams and search parties for dead bodies at the low dams...these people would not have a job.

[@dochollywood79]

I’m going to be a low head dam for Halloween

[@loooii8816]

I’m no engineer but why don’t you add large heavy rock 🪨 in the area where the water circles like a tornado. Problem solved all credits to me for saving millions of dollars

[@chrisccb]

So now before drowning you just get your head caves in by rocks?

[@loooii8816]

@@chrisccb absolutely

[@PhoenixGami]

What and why would you go in there

[@tartineboy41]

As à 20+y xp of kayaking i was shaking when i saw the huy running straight into thé dam... This is à death trap, Thats why there is à sign

[@taylorlindsay1262]

Creature Craft! (For rescuers)

[@wisconsingoldrush8270]

I was watching this for safety but the dead cow really gave me a chuckle

[@captseamus]

It use to be called " the washing machine effect"

[@MUCKFOOT399]

dam

[@kdolo100]

Karl's hand @ 18:56.

[@J0HNJ0RDAN]

If they put half as many warning signs up, as they have to wear a mask or to stay 6ft apart, people might avoid these areas in time.

[@RS-xq6je]

My local town has signs up about every 100 yards saying wash your hands

[@dagramirez]

A dan in N.C. claimed 3 victims, all related while tubing on the river.

[@mayrbmx]

STOP DAMMING RIVERS, it could save lives.

[@salcutrona4894]

I learned the hard way..girlfriend and I went over a SMALL ONE and got tossed over..will NEVER DO IT AGAIN..

[@alowatsakima8950]

Low head dams should be outlawed. The downstream side of dams should require the proper design to prevent backwash.

[@jsullivan2112]

Every single one of these needs to be corrected. Man-made? Man has the responsibility to fix it or remove it entirely.

[@catlady8324]

2:19 Get rid of all deadly low head damns. If it saves one life, it’s worth it!

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

Are you ready to pay for?

[@catlady8324]

@@alexandrevaliquette1941 Corona money will pay for it.

[@alexandrevaliquette1941]

@@catlady8324 And who will pay for corona money? A: The government. Q: And where the government will take this money? A: Government is unsinkable, like the Titanic.

[@catlady8324]

@Edgar Alvarez It’s extra trillions free money from the government to fix the Corona flu. Pretty much the same as climate change money.

[@seikho89]

create a sloping wall

[@paulb7200]

Barking Jack Russell

[@michaelarkell5437]

It frustrated me when he didn't try swimming sideways.

[@It-b-Blair]

Yeah, those branches.... so close...

[@daviddiehl197]

Had one on a property. Person got caught in one and almost drowned. We had them arrested, they're now doing 5 years.

[@tjtewshews5531]

5 years for what? Trespassing?

[@Scodel]

It’s so disheartening that he quit paddling as soon as he went over the dam. Why would you stop paddling like that?? Makes no sense

[@duramaxsmokes3825]

Let me challenge nature. Ok didn’t win

[@jasonmurdoch4137]

If he had paddled harder he would have been fine. You gotta dig when you're in a hydraulic

[@theonewhoknows2]

You underestimate the power of water. You would be doomed thinking like that.