Oroville Dam spillway get wet after a two-year hiatus

The reconstructed Oroville Dam spillway was used on Tuesday, April 2, 2019
for the first time since the spillway split open in February 2017.
Water first went down the spillway shortly before 11 a.m
Department of Water Resources planned for releases
from the spillway to reach about 8,300 cubic feet per
second by early afternoon.

[@Lithane97]

I love drones so much, they give us such amazing angles of things like this. Imagining all of the amazing things we would have seen if the world had been recorded like this throughout history.

[@Bagge24]

I was thinking to myself "damn that would be hella fun waterslide to just jump in" until the camera zoomed out and I saw the death penalty in the end, nvm..

[@aa_0n711]

lmao same here

[@tondo9669]

Ikr

[@emmablake1300]

If you hit one of the ramped parts you could most probably get some decent air!

[@computerboy2k]

Those jagged rocks will definitely break their fall, and then their body...lol

[@missnperfection9830]

NO BALLS!!!

[@alihussain3297]

I am studying Civil Engineering currently. We have this subject called water resource management, where in we learned about the dams and reservoir. These huge concrete structures really do fascinate me and I am really passionate about involving in its construction one day.

[@will_doherty]

The thing about dams is that they are self-defeating - given 100 years or so - in general - the sediment that they trap renders the storage capacity down to almost nothing, so the dams become worse than useless. Considering the huge expense of the original build cost, plus the damage that they do to the ecosystem and the fact that they are relatively short lived (moreso for the few that fail and cause carnage downstream), you'd have to question the sensibility of building them in the first place...

[@alihussain3297]

@@will_doherty You have spoken only about its disadvantages, but it does have a lot of advantages. It has made many of the human civilisation self sufficient in the water capacity they want, they help tackle extreme floods, they help in irrigation, producing hydroelectric power and many more. Everything has its own bad sides, but you have to look at its pros and cons to judge by yourself. Indeed every structure is self defeating within itself by one way or other, but what can likely increase the its lifespan is required maintenance. Every structure is designed keeping in minds many factors such design life, future expansion, repairing etc.

[@AndrzejSQ9PKW]

@@alihussain3297 what about end of spillway? I never saw construct like this i Europe. Our spilways end almost always under water to reduce erosion... Can you explain me this?

[@Merennulli]

@@AndrzejSQ9PKW The dentation, or "teeth", at the end of this spillway are intended to have the same effect. I believe the choice between this "ski jump" spillway and a stilling basin spillway (the under water type you reference) is likely based on the surrounding material, water depth and slope. This dam has fast moving water going into a shallow river, so you run the risk of the flow and the end creating eddies forceful enough to undercut the end of your stilling basin at the end of the spillway if you go all the way into the water. Much like the headcut erosion problem that forced them to stop using the emergency spillway at Oroville, damage caused by turbulent erosion would work its way up the spillway to the dam. The "ski jump" style spillway dissipates energy by channeling the flow horizontally (in this case, past specialized dentation) to let both the air and collision with the other parts of the flow absorb the energy before it continues downward. It's been 20+ years since I took relevant engineering courses and I ended up changing majors, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[@extra2ab]

@@Merennulli you are right. We have 7 large and small dams where i stay. We had 7000 mm rain year before last. I stay in maharashtra, India. Some of these dams are more than 100 years old and their spillways are functioning wonderfully till now .

[@jeffpalmer5502]

I have followed this journey with fascination since two days before emergency spillway field including the construction of the new facilities. Amazing job well done

[@zootsootful]

This is like watching water come down a spillway.

[@engineergaming4295]

zootsootful hahhahah lol

[@engineergaming4295]

Woah it does

[@SousTerre1]

That comment looks like words under a video.

[@ext93]

@@SousTerre1 those words are like letters put together to form symbols that we associate with sound and meaning

[@therewegoagain9924]

Ah yes the *floor* here seems to be made of what looks like *floor*

[@trakeespree]

Dude, I really need to get up and go outside to find anything to do

[@gregw4303]

Nah, do that tomorrow...😆

[@isaac10231]

HAHAHA

[@TheKurtsPlaceChannel]

Great video. The repair work was amazing. Thanks for posting this.

[@Peter421]

Man they did not play around with this new spillway.

[@reggielongoria1848]

Nice video. It's a shame there was no audio accompaniment.

[@scottculver]

Like a drum roll all the way down but a loud cymbal crash when the water reaches the bottom? Maybe?

[@mxdanger]

@@scottculver Like the rumbling sound of the water. :P

[@scottculver]

@@mxdanger OK fine

[@pinkyandbrain123]

@@scottculver even the sound of the drone would be better than listening to my stupid neighbors

[@scottculver]

@@pinkyandbrain123 Maybe if you got a glass of water and a straw and blew bubbles in it the whole time?

[@marymcguffin9370]

Watching this is so cool and quiet beautiful

[@joshp3994]

At first I'm like "why do they need to activate the spillway aren't they under a big drought right now?" then I saw the date for the video. Crazy how fast things can fluctuate.

[@christopherwilson9140]

I was like "dude get me a tube now" until 2:25

[@barneyneal9026]

Thats the best part

[@goddesseris4561]

you just gotta make the jump lol

[@thethirdman225]

@@goddesseris4561 The spillway is 55 metres wide so the drop into the Feather River at the bottom is probably about 150 ft…

[@GatorMike79]

Since I've been watching the complete rebuild, this was pretty cool to watch as boring as it was LOL

[@overdoneone]

Hey guys, open those gates up! Show us what this baby can do......

[@lynstoneham]

Awesome workmanship

[@charleslebrun7217]

Why is this tremendous force not being utilized generating electric power?

[@patrickboehner4383]

Because it's an emergency spillway, and the dam already has a hydro electric plant.

[@nebtheweb8885]

Charles the spillway is for flood control. The DAM already generates electric power.

[@bonniechase5599]

Congrats on shoring up some of the most important infrastructure in our state. It's good to know that the job is well done. Thank you Kiewit!

[@davehughesfarm7983]

you neeed to do some catching up sister...its about to over top...

[@marks4374]

Bonnie Chase from what I have seen it’s a disaster waiting to happen. They appear to be afraid to use it because it will probably come apart when they do.

[@nebtheweb8885]

@@marks4374 From what you 've seen? What have you 'seen' mr self-proclaimed 'expert'? Please regale us with your nonsense. The spillway is fine, it worked fine, not only on the day the video was made but a few days later at a higher rate. Much to the chagrin of you doubters, it didn't fly apart on that day either. So, if and when they use it again this year you can come back an let us know how incredibly wrong you were. Meanwhile, here is a spectacular view of the spillway working just fine. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpPIlqyrq912atU Lets hear the excuses.

[@franklesser5655]

So happy the spillway is back. It was so hard on all of us Americans when it was damaged to terribly! Welcome back ol' spillway. It looks good. It really looks good.

[@berndklumpp7790]

Nice irony in your text 'n words!

[@superowen21]

Pretty Dam(n) satisfying

[@paulsosa1872]

I'm from the future save that precious water there will be a long drought

[@overlord-6644]

Can you tell me where and when to buy a lottery ticket?

[@FSXflyermaster]

@@overlord-6644 you already missed it

[@overlord-6644]

@@FSXflyermaster I don’t need water I need a winning lottery ticket

[@KpopLabPro]

when only a drizzle is left of that water flow they may convert it to a world's largest water slide

[@troyaldridge9773]

Should put some mining carpet on that spillway could be good..gold

[@joshuaguenin9507]

Nope

[@jonmacdonald5345]

Yeah gold is known to float on the surfaces of lakes LMFAO hahaha!

[@joyceleadbetter2600]

Pan for gold further downstream, you'll have better luck. Just don't get caught claim jumping.

[@Andrew-zh3gk]

@@jonmacdonald5345 you’ve obviously never been gold prospecting.

[@lexiepexie7845]

@@Andrew-zh3gk I think it's sarcasm

[@darinladd5312]

Wow. DWR and Kiewit construction. Blancolirio. Heroes of modern government, construction, and open government. Let's hope that 100 years from now they remember.

[@LususxNaturae]

Easily one of the most beautiful spillways I’ve seen.

[@Kenneth_James]

how many you seen? Spillway aficionado?

[@Engineer9736]

This was probably the first spillway he has ever seen

[@LususxNaturae]

Y’all over here hating on people over spillways? Weird.

[@JordanBrotherInJesus]

Anyone down for a tube ride down the big water slide?

[@kimkris21]

The landings gonna hurt...

[@Hugh-Glass]

Let's go, cut a path and I'll be right behind.

[@irenedavo3768]

😳😳😳😳😳

[@brandoncaldwell95]

Let me just check to make sure my insurance premiums are paid this year.

[@TheFinalWagon]

yeah come to oroville, its a great town!

[@tylerseitz6337]

Good work guys!

[@anubis6864]

Amazing isn't it? No matter what sort of video is posted on KZbin you can guarantee that all the 'experts' will crawl out from under their stones to criticise it and say what should have happened or should have been done differently. How come these idiots don't work for the industries involved if they're so clever?

[@halfmens7247]

There to busy with being smart!

[@GPz84]

@@halfmens7247 'too' busy.

[@johnrapach3675]

What i wouldn't give to be at the bottom of that spillway when the water comes rushing towards me

[@sandramcdaniel2]

That 2 years flew by fast!

[@ericassuvtravels]

The new dam Looks amazing. What a difference from original dam. Nice upgrade

[@gardenman3]

Same dam. Just a new spillway

[@khaledadams4329]

The kayak trap at the end!

[@Funeral65]

Did they constuct it properly this time though?

[@balachandar8430]

Suuperb drone work

[@williamlitlle1308]

It looks as if the outer sides of the walls containing the water in the spillway are exposed, if so does anyone know why?

[@gardenman3]

I think they were still in the process of filling them back in.

[@Supernaut2000]

They got it all wet! Warranty voided!

[@greggibson2117]

And now there is not enough water to actually use it.............sad how much drought California is in.

[@ELRay000]

I am thinking, that's a LOT of electricity going down the drain! Build in some hydroelectric turbines and generate some electricity from the "spillage" it would pay for itself quickly.

[@neelsuthar7391]

this is an emergency spillway, its intended to be used when the hydroelectric turbines can't pass enough water such as when there is unsual amount of rain.

[@Engineer9736]

Indeed. When this thing is in use the sole goal is to prevent a dam breaking and killing a million people. Electricity generation is not a topic in this part of the dam.

[@onestepatatime2346]

blancolirio has great reporting on this for the last two years

[@tstahler5420]

Agreed! His updates are incredible.

[@bobbytheglobby7469]

Put a ramp at the bottom, boom Best water slide

[@Niallhs]

Until you hit the rocks at the bottom

[@Ghst95]

I'm not grumpy worst water slide ever haha

[@jimthompson717]

Where? When? I must have missed it.

[@mishb32]

Wish this had sound😫

[@KTHKUHNKK]

I also we should had sound I wonder if that was a drone up in the air shooting the footage

[@ginger8655]

Play some music while you watch..

[@goldredlion920]

We made America then went and made Italy to look like America..water was our street before Italy..

[@loes3000]

@6 6 She said she wished it had sound. She wished. Stfu damn lol .

[@loes3000]

@6 6 And im 100% sure she meant the sound of the water and not the drone...

[@damengineer6534]

Why is the aerator not seen in the repaired canal at the oroville dam? 🤔

[@kellenlancaster110]

Husky airplane made in my home town. Hope it flies well in California.

[@baylinkdashyt]

So... does anyone know if the reconstructed spillways were built with pressure and velocity sensor instrumentation, as you would expect from such a large engineering construct from the 21st Century?

[@OscarVaughn]

Yeah that would be a crazy tube ride.

[@thethirdman225]

The end, not so much…

[@joehead1294]

Bet they would like to have that water back!

[@paulaharrisbaca4851]

BUMMER!! No roaring water sound? I guess it'd be more like running a bathtub actually. I wonder why they didn't record the audio?

[@Merennulli]

I believe the video was recorded using a drone with a built-in camera. Those cameras don't have a microphone on them because they cut weight and cost wherever possible, and you're usually recording drone footage too far away to get meaningful audio.

[@bettybergen5076]

Is there any more updates??????Would like to see them

[@EasyModeFishing]

I’m a little concerned with how the water got all muddy when it dropped over. That looks like soil erosion to me...

[@ProfezorSnayp]

They spillway was built on mostly solid rock but still some soil remained. It will get washed out eventually.

[@Engineer9736]

You can rest assured that at least a 100 professionals have seen this footage.. No need to be alarmed about something so obviously visible being a regular civilian.

[@thethirdman225]

I’d guess that either mud washed off the new concrete or mud stirred up by the fall into the Feather River. 🤷‍♂️

[@georgeeverette3912]

Makes you feel proud of America.

[@joshuaguenin9507]

The previuos one was american built also.....

[@claudreindl7275]

Maximum capacity supposedly ~269,000 cfs...so you test it at 8,300 cfs, or 3% ?? I must be missing something here.

[@allgasnobrakes530]

Claud Reindl right what else are they keeping

[@Wrugoin13]

Probably a civil engineering degree. Just a guess.

[@MidgetPunter]

The test wasnt just about the Chute. It was testing of the gates and locks was the main priority for that initial test. The portion needed to check on sensors for the Chute couldve been done with 4,000 cfs.

[@777Macau]

@@MidgetPunter Exactly, so a bogus test!!!!!

[@harrickvharrick3957]

You keyboard warriors, always easily criticising way too fast and without having any knowledge whatsoever of whatever the subject it is about.. what else are you keeping from us the disses dudes that have some brain!

[@ROGER2095]

Evil Kneivel wants to jump across the broken road at the bottom. (I know I do!)

[@huemanatie4392]

All the up river dams are at capacity. Also with a 40 degree rise in temperature in two or three days, wettest May on record, 160% snow pack, it could be interesting still. A spillway test at 8% is not all that reassuring. Disasters are often the result of a combination of events that on their own would not be disastrous but when they pile up they become an 'unforeseen able' event.

[@varinderkumar863]

Very nice capture

[@Isura101]

Can tell the PR team is working over time to fix the mess up in the first place.

[@dorecannon2851]

If they had finished it , it would have made a great slip-in-slide.

[@kitchenbriks3685]

I'm surprised the walls weren't more reinforced

[@superbhiel]

What happen why so silent?

[@Engineer9736]

It are probably drone shots which usually come with a sound like 100 musquitos. Better to hear nothing then.

[@catholicguy1000]

Worlds biggest water slide . Hold my beer

[@gman9148]

Sound is not working...

[@Clearanceman2]

Evel Knievel Could have scheduled it down the spillway up one of the ramps and into the river. Somehow he would have managed to crash but Robbie could have done it on a dirt bike without getting hurt

[@alexanderwlad6689]

Who else saw the 1st drone in the 2nd drones footage?

[@bigguy1200]

I've lived in Chico for 25 years and the dam is about the only thing I go to in Oroville it's such a shit hole that I usually never go out there that often not when I have upper bidwell park to go run around in.

[@thevinceberry]

The town looks nice online,what's wrong with Oroville

[@jamescollinson2179]

Unusually heavy snowfall in February and March has raised the Sierra snowpack to 200% average for this time of year. With melt over the next 2 months Lake Oroville will fill faster than the spillway even at maximum capacity can drain it. The dam could overflow and collapse.

[@philipmarz707]

8300 cfs isn't much of a test, about all it did was wash the spillway. Load it up and watch the bottom end disintegrate. If the Corp of engineers is involved something will go bad, it never fails

[@Latabrine]

...or it always fails! 👌😎

[@brandoncaldwell95]

Yep, where they say it cant be done, someone does it and better then they would. What the corps of engineers did build it, its typically destroyed soon

[@paultrigger3798]

build the most stuff = most failures. Also the prime was Kiewit not that it matters, this stuff always a sensitive subject

[@SuperMurf44]

Great test now we can rest at ease knowing water runs down hill….

[@dogmandan79]

I grew up near that dam and always heard stories of drunk college kids going down that spillway riding innertubes.

[@suzylarry1]

this was a long time coming ...the water flow...2 years and a lot of work !

[@Survivor1547]

Wow it has been a long time i hope the spillway doesn't eroded away in 2020.

[@chrislindsay60]

I wouldnt think waves would be good in this set up could cause a harmonic problem ,

[@dtiydr]

No problems, they are way, way to fast in comparison to any resonance frequency in the mountain or such.

[@jeffreyhill8040]

Anyone that wants to know the whole story, the true story, only needs to look up blancolirio on KZbin and go back to his videos in the very beginning of this incident. He is a pilot for American Airlines, lives near there, and started doing vlogs at the dam on his days off. He is not into weaving fairytales, but his Mom was a small town reporter and he grew up with curiosity about the World. So he continued making trips to the dam to record the massive re-construction effort and they quickly let him get official access. Again, look up his channel and you can go through it all. Anyway, the happy ending is that there were NO mistakes made in the re-construction. There are no leaks, no green spots on the face of the dam that are part of some conspiracy theory. No corners were cut and it was a Masterful effort by the engineers, contractors and workers, to get the job done on time (yes, that took a LOT of money). Juan Browne got such a following on his blancolirio channel that he started covering other subjects as a 'part time' hobby and the people were fascinated by his honest, thought-out assessments of the work. He flew the big jets for a living. Unfortunately, what he is reporting on now is that the airlines are quite possibly going to disappear for awhile, folks.

[@sudarshan3965]

I want to do kayaking on this. 🛶

[@bunzeebear2973]

Upstream too. Talk about the arms then- Wrist wrestling champ in the world.

[@jamiehartshorne7396]

nice slide

[@maximme]

do we know WHATS the cause of the original problem? Looks like its the same design as the previous.....

[@Fusdew]

They obviously know the cause of the original problem

[@garlandremingtoniii1338]

micheal bolton It’s called, cavitation

[@jeffreyhill8040]

There is a published study about what went wrong. Basically, the dam was built to really high standards back in the 60's, and NOTHING went wrong for more than 40 years. California did not do their job and do the right inspections and maintenance work over that 40 year period. The spillway doesn't get used very often, but that particular year, they had way too much water coming into the reservoir, ran the spillway at a high volume (necessary) and some previously undiscovered cracks went berserk. Like somebody else said, 'cavitation'. Yes the new design is basically the same. It is nearly one MILE long and they rebuilt the entire thing. And this time they anchored the damn thing deep into the bedrock and put digital sensors all over it and all the modern engineering. Fantastic job of a little "quick fix" to the tune of $1.1 Billion.

[@Sidicas]

All that waste of potential energy. They need to add more generators.Before it rains, drain the dam into the extra generators so it has lots of room to hold more energy/water during the rainfall surge..

[@oscarmendez590]

Does anyone know how deep the flow is?

[@РомаПопугаев]

Хорошие ребята, сработали на совесть как узбеки, да нет даже лучше узбеков, как мексиканцы, ну как можно таким криворуким проектировщикам плотины, доверять такие работы!!!

[@hellojam100]

we won't need the spillway anymore due to the long-term drought

[@ext93]

Ride a skateboard down and hit those dividers like a big jump into the river

[@Jan-qq9xc]

MICHIGAN, are you watching?

[@stephenkessel1990]

Oh man that was raw!

[@gibbethoskins8621]

Hopefully they didn't get the work experience kid to design it this time

[@MaZe741]

Goddamn cheapskates stopped a few meters in front of the river, you'd think they learned their lesson

[@Jan-qq9xc]

Awesome; beautiful!

[@Hugh-Glass]

Was that crane on the right normal?

[@jcsphotography9318]

Hugh Glass No they’re probably dismantling it. Taking the block (hook) off

[@Hugh-Glass]

@@jcsphotography9318 gotcha. I know nothing of them except what they usually look like.

[@johnernest2779]

Time to pull the cork on that water slide!

[@christopherwaldrop8115]

Very cool

[@gregw4303]

I wonder how much power it produces...

[@nebtheweb8885]

The spillway is just a spillway. The DAM is the one that generates electric power.

[@gregw4303]

@@nebtheweb8885 ok, jolly good 😁

[@gregorycarton1892]

tres ecolo tout ca..... merci

[@hatelife7447]

i feel like large steel discharge pipes would've have been better than all this for the second time

[@thethirdman225]

They’d have to be very big. This spillway is 55 metres wide. I mean, it’s been done and it makes sense but it would be extremely expensive.

[@MAMP]

Soon as I saw water flowing my first thought was to start fishing it

[@caliguess]

Forbidden water park

[@swedeburg]

The Blancolirio channel covered this really well.

[@marks4374]

Brian Clausen you mean covered it up really well.

[@randomconsumer4494]

Much better...

[@buckstarchaser2376]

It looks just like the one that was blocked from maintenance funding, because a "state of emergency" unlocks mountains of federal money to embezzle and self-serve. Way to go, California. You really got game there. Where's the $8 Billion subway you were paid to build with money that came from all over the country?

[@duanedrouillard2495]

Sure could use that water now

[@ivanfangio]

No more trees 💔

[@thevirgil1722]

They forgot to build a bridge at the bottom.... silly.

[@JohnSmith-qn3ob]

Seems like a waste of energy. They need to put some water wheels in the spillway to get some of that sweet sweet kinetic energy.

[@mexcanfun4498]

Whatever they do it's just a big pile of mud.

[@Michaljordan1]

LOOK AT THAT BROWN WATER!!

[@milesrand8675]

Joe Powell That’s just from water turbulence stirring up mud at the bottom of the spillway

[@hillbillyprepper3987]

Why aren't they power turbines in the walls or middle? They could capture lost energy from the rush of water I would think.

[@Q3020Q]

The regular turbines are likely already running full speed, or, there is too much power in the grid for the demand needed such that running the turbines would require the state to sell off it's excess power at very low or negative prices. As with any machine you want to be efficient with it's use because they require maintenance and replacement with use, but you also want an asset to be used to generate revenue and stay in top form. Spillways in power generating dams are used infrequently enough and at times when power generation capacity is already very high that running turbines in the spillways is costly, inefficient and not useful.

[@gardenman3]

@@Q3020Q Also if more water is coming into the dam than can go through the turbines the spill is used. Also a certain amount of water must always be let out into the river.

[@Engineer9736]

A spillway is an important safety mechanism (the failure of it caused 200,000 people to be evacuated), only used once in a while. Adding turbines could weaken it and it would only generate power once in a few months.