[PenultimateManStanding]

The Nile will still flow when the technicians are gone. The turbines will rust. The water will seek it's level and perhaps the dam will be eroded from beneath through the turbine chambers. Perhaps the chambers will be clogged with debris. The waters will rise and silt will accumulate. Cracks will form as the waters rush over the top. The beautiful falls will do their work and the Aswan Dam will be no more. Then once again, the valley will receive it's nutrient rich silt in the yearly floods.

[Ludi]

These giant dams only have a lifespan of about 100 years. After that, they become giant waterfalls and/or an unbelievable danger to folks living downstream.

[Cog]

Once again we will build pyramids and future generations(if any) will marvel at our ingenuity.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'O')nce again we will build pyramids and future generations(if any) will marvel at our ingenuity.

[vetusfirma]

Has anyone seen an 'ancient dam'. Bet none made it.

[hironegro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'O')nce again we will build pyramids and future generations(if any) will marvel at our ingenuity.

[darwinsdog]

The Soviets wouldn't bankroll the building of Nasser's pyramid, so he had them build his dam instead. A pyramid does no harm, whereas the Aswan High Dam has ruined the hydrodynamics of the Nile, on which Egypt's agricultural production has depended for millenia. The annual spate which once restored the fertility of the floodplain is now "controlled," leading to forced reliance on commercial fertilizers. And with all the sediments being trapped behind the dam, the Nile delta is rapidly eroding into the Med. The only thing stupider than building the Aswan dam has been the channelization of the Mississippi & development of its floodplain. Major rivers can't be tamed, as the food rioters of Egypt & innundated Iowans have been learning. Let the rivers flow free, farm the floodplains but don't build on them, work with the natural flood cycles not against them. What am I thinking? That makes too much sense. Humans will never go for it...

Only thing I'd rather see than Lake "Foul" & Lake "Greed" bone dry would be the dams collapsing after a warm rainy spring following a heavy snowpack.

[cannedsalmon]

Modern dams won't collapse. The grand coulee is wider then it is tall, over hundreds of years it will turn into a sort of rapids through crushed concrete, but it would not collapse.

The truth is they will ALL be removed in obout 30 seconds when the war starts, there will be a large crater lake at each dam site with a 40 square mile area of radioactive strontium rich concrete..

[Zeeea]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'T')he Nile will still flow when the technicians are gone. The turbines will rust. The water will seek it's level and perhaps the dam will be eroded from beneath through the turbine chambers. Perhaps the chambers will be clogged with debris. The waters will rise and silt will accumulate. Cracks will form as the waters rush over the top. The beautiful falls will do their work and the Aswan Dam will be no more. Then once again, the valley will receive it's nutrient rich silt in the yearly floods.

[frankthetank]

I watched a PBS special on one of the dams in AZ. They pretty much said they won't last long and will crumble if not maintained/rebuilt. The silt behind them that builds up is a big problem.

The Mississippi River, i agree, is a bigger mess. I watched another PBS special (i watch them all!) about the history of my hometown (La Crosse) and in it they showed how through the years they tried everything they could to maintain a deep main channel, but couldn't get it to work until the locks and dams were put in. The stupid things don't ever work anyways. People still get flooded out of their homes about every couple of years. Its sad, but kind of reassuring that mother nature always wins. I'm not sure if my house would be flooded out or not, but i could care less. If the river wants it, just give me a hint (or about 10 inches of rain 100 miles north of here) and i'll pack my crap and be gone in less then a day.

The Mississippi does still maintain a lot of its "natural" look around this area. There is a ton of backwater sloughs and cuts that you can still cruise down.

Just wait, another ice age will happen and pretty much everything up this way will be scraped clean. Couple million years and you wouldn't know humans were ever here.

[cannedsalmon]

Tell me, during an "ice age" why the big glaciers get pushed along on flat ground.

I always wondered what caused them to move along flat plains carving out large structures like grand canyons. Maybe they have huge motors that run on ethanol?

Don't eat all the pablum they feed you.

[mercurygirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'I') watched a PBS special on one of the dams in AZ. They pretty much said they won't last long and will crumble if not maintained/rebuilt. The silt behind them that builds up is a big problem.

The Mississippi River, i agree, is a bigger mess. I watched another PBS special (i watch them all!) about the history of my hometown (La Crosse) and in it they showed how through the years they tried everything they could to maintain a deep main channel, but couldn't get it to work until the locks and dams were put in. The stupid things don't ever work anyways. People still get flooded out of their homes about every couple of years. Its sad, but kind of reassuring that mother nature always wins. I'm not sure if my house would be flooded out or not, but i could care less. If the river wants it, just give me a hint (or about 10 inches of rain 100 miles north of here) and i'll pack my crap and be gone in less then a day.

The Mississippi does still maintain a lot of its "natural" look around this area. There is a ton of backwater sloughs and cuts that you can still cruise down.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('cannedsalmon', 'T')ell me, during an "ice age" why the big glaciers get pushed along on flat ground.

I always wondered what caused them to move along flat plains carving out large structures like grand canyons. Maybe they have huge motors that run on ethanol?

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')alks a bit about how the rivers are "managed".

[bodigami]

What about using electricity generators with a form similar to water mills? They don't disrupt the water stream and still generate electricity. And there may be a lot of them built in the edges of the river...

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('anagami', 'W')hat about using electricity generators with a form similar to water mills? They don't disrupt the water stream and still generate electricity. And there may be a lot of them built in the edges of the river...