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FOX 28 TOP STORIES VIDEO
An investigation starts on the Lake Delhi dam.
They're trying to find out exactly what caused the catastrophic failure that wiped out a whole lake. The Lake Delhi dam gave way to all the pressure from the Maquoketa river flooding. The dam was breached on Saturday causing destruction along the shore and downriver. The cause is now being investigated by the department of natural resources.
CBS 2's Brittney Hibbs tracks this developing story and explains why the floods of 08 may have caused this damage.
Three gates on the Lake Delhi dam only two of them fully open.
"Had they opened it sooner it might have made a difference," says Lake Delhi resident, Diana Koffenbergen.
It’s hard enough for people living on the lake to see the destruction but what’s worse is this image the third gate partially open leaving many people to wonder, could this have been prevented?
The DNR now plans to evaluate the dam and whether or not the 3rd gate was working during the downfall.
Back in 2009 inspectors found that one of the gates could only be opened 8 feet because of damage from the floods of 2008.
"Having the third gate closed reduces your capacity if you were to all three open obvioulsy you have 100 percent capacity. Having one of them closed reduces it quite a bit," says Delaware County Engineer, Anthony Bardgett.
Officials say they were too busy with other things the day the dam broke but now looking back something was not right.
"I did notice in the pictures that the 3rd gate was not operating correctly"
"Everyone is talking about what happened. What could've been. Should've, would've, could've."
It’s too soon to determine if the 3rd gate caused the dam's collapse but in the meantime people say not knowing is not enough.
It will be awhile before there are any final answers. The DNR says the investigation could take years.
Thursday, July 29 2010, 09:58 PM CDT
They're trying to find out exactly what caused the catastrophic failure that wiped out a whole lake. The Lake Delhi dam gave way to all the pressure from the Maquoketa river flooding. The dam was breached on Saturday causing destruction along the shore and downriver. The cause is now being investigated by the department of natural resources.
CBS 2's Brittney Hibbs tracks this developing story and explains why the floods of 08 may have caused this damage.
Three gates on the Lake Delhi dam only two of them fully open.
"Had they opened it sooner it might have made a difference," says Lake Delhi resident, Diana Koffenbergen.
It’s hard enough for people living on the lake to see the destruction but what’s worse is this image the third gate partially open leaving many people to wonder, could this have been prevented?
The DNR now plans to evaluate the dam and whether or not the 3rd gate was working during the downfall.
Back in 2009 inspectors found that one of the gates could only be opened 8 feet because of damage from the floods of 2008.
"Having the third gate closed reduces your capacity if you were to all three open obvioulsy you have 100 percent capacity. Having one of them closed reduces it quite a bit," says Delaware County Engineer, Anthony Bardgett.
Officials say they were too busy with other things the day the dam broke but now looking back something was not right.
"I did notice in the pictures that the 3rd gate was not operating correctly"
"Everyone is talking about what happened. What could've been. Should've, would've, could've."
It’s too soon to determine if the 3rd gate caused the dam's collapse but in the meantime people say not knowing is not enough.
It will be awhile before there are any final answers. The DNR says the investigation could take years.
Thursday, July 29 2010, 09:58 PM CDT
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