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Tank Spillway Washed Out

1,976 Views | 14 Replies | Last: 15 days ago by swampstander
Watchful Ag
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7:21p, 4/13/24
AG
Freestone County

Heavy rains from earlier this week caused the spillway on our tank dam to collapse. This spot on the dam had previously failed 15-20 years ago, but we finally had it fixed by a local dozer contractor about 1.5 years ago.

This was the first time the repaired dam faced high water levels, and unfortunately, it didn't hold up. The spillway was topped with large white rocks to combat erosion, as you can see in one of the attached images.

Some of my family members think the contractor should repair it at no cost, while others believe we should expect to pay again. Before I reach out, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm not very experienced with this kind of project, so I'm looking to manage my expectations based on yalls advice.

And what a bummer too, because it created a nice pinch point to watch cruising bucks during the rut

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DVM97
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7:43p, 4/13/24
AG
I'd expect to pay again….Mother Nature ultimately rules. Unless the job wasn't completed or the dam wasn't "repaired" to your specs, I'd say that it washing out again was just bad timing.
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CS78
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8:09p, 4/13/24
To me, it kinda depends on what conversations were had with the operator. Did he give options on how to keep it from happening? Elevation changes, drainage basin, soil type, overflow capacity, and how much you wanted to spend should have all been considered before deciding how the work was done.

Just from the few pictures, I suspect your riprap overflow was too narrow to handle the volume of flow.
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Mas89
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8:17p, 4/13/24
AG
Maybe you need a couple big pipes towards the top of the spillway to lower the level and pressure on the dam.

A cousin has a setup like that outside Henderson with similar looking dirt. Maybe two 36" pipes.
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SanAntoneAg
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8:33p, 4/13/24
AG
Damn!
Gig 'em! '90
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AnScAggie
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8:42p, 4/13/24
AG
Hard for me to blame the dozer operator based on the pics. Sucks, but sometimes Mother Nature wins.
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rancher1953
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9:20p, 4/13/24
Act of God and nature, just like hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. You may want to get an engineers advice on how the best way to repair and mitigate the damage should another act of nature occur.
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fullback44
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In reply to rancher1953 • 9:51p, 4/13/24
AG
rancher1953 said:
Act of God and nature, just like hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. You may want to get an engineers advice on how the best way to repair and mitigate the damage should another act of nature occur.


This is what I think, you could put dirt back in there 10 times and it would wash out 10 more times, you need to figure out how to fix the issue, maybe pipes or some cement little spill way, may want to get an engineer to look at it
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B-1 83
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10:47a, 4/14/24
AG
Check with your local USDA NRCS office. They should be able to give you an idea about how wide the spillway should be to accommodate expected floods.
Being in TexAgs jail changes a man……..no, not really
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Yesterday
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11:26a, 4/14/24
AG
Quote:
Some of my family members think the contractor should repair it at no cost, while others believe we should expect to pay again.
If I had to bet these family members are in the background and don't really participate in seeking out and negotiating with contractors etc. I could be wrong but its real easy to sit back and say, "well they need to fix it for free."

We had some recent dozure work done on a tank at our place and if our damn washed out from a heavy rain there's zero chance we would expect them to come and fix it for free. They may offer to do it at a discount which would be nice but we wouldn't expect it.
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Kenneth_2003
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11:35a, 4/14/24
AG
Guy with a bulldozer =/= geotechnical engineer.

Get an engineer to DESIGN that structure, then pay the guy that moves dirt to build it to the spec provided. THEN pay the engineer to do the tests to ensure the design was followed.
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Jason_InfinityRoofer
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11:51a, 4/14/24
You'll need to pay again in my opinion. Growing up, we had tanks like this and I don't know who built them but they had these scary a$$ looking verticle pipes. They were huge (to me as a kid). Basically an overflow built into the tank, so when water rose, it spilled into the verticle pipe that was piped out under that dam. If serves the same purpose as the overflow, but the overflow happens in the water and not over the dirt. The ones I always saw had some ramshackle piece of concrete reinforcement mesh on top that were rusted and rotted and some were open so for the love of Joseph, if you do this, make sure the top has a heavy mesh that won't let a kid or an animal fall in. This is probably the route I would go because the alternative, in my opinion is a full concrete spillway that will hold up.
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B-1 83
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In reply to Kenneth_2003 • 12:54p, 4/14/24
AG
Kenneth_2003 said:
Guy with a bulldozer =/= geotechnical engineer.

Get an engineer to DESIGN that structure, then pay the guy that moves dirt to build it to the spec provided. THEN pay the engineer to do the tests to ensure the design was followed.
If only there was a USDA agency that could do the design work for free………..they will even come out and check it.
Being in TexAgs jail changes a man……..no, not really
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Shoefly!
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In reply to B-1 83 • 9:24p, 4/14/24
AG
B-1 83 said:
Kenneth_2003 said:
Guy with a bulldozer =/= geotechnical engineer.

Get an engineer to DESIGN that structure, then pay the guy that moves dirt to build it to the spec provided. THEN pay the engineer to do the tests to ensure the design was followed.
If only there was a USDA agency that could do the design work for free………..they will even come out and check it.

This is true!
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swampstander
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In reply to Shoefly! • 11:23p, 4/14/24
AG
Shoefly! said:
B-1 83 said:
Kenneth_2003 said:
Guy with a bulldozer =/= geotechnical engineer.

Get an engineer to DESIGN that structure, then pay the guy that moves dirt to build it to the spec provided. THEN pay the engineer to do the tests to ensure the design was followed.
If only there was a USDA agency that could do the design work for free………..they will even come out and check it.

This is true!
Agreed. I'm a WFSC grad and we had to design emergency spillways based on reservoir acre/ft and expected 100 year storm runoff.
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