Dillon Dam Road closed to cars

**uglymoney** · 07-09-2008, 09:47 AM

Am I reading this right? Insane.

Dillon Dam Road closed to cars
Denver Water cites security, but sudden move roils Summit County residents
By Joey Bunch
and Jessica Fender
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 07/09/2008 01:10:23 AM MDT

A coalition of Summit County governments and fire departments expressed disappointment, if not hostility, toward Denver Water over Tuesday's last-minute announcement to close Dillon Dam Road at midnight.

Denver Water issued a statement at 5 p.m. stressing there is no imminent threat, but "the potential for catastrophic consequences downstream" was too great to leave the road open. Since 9/11, the utility has spent more than $10 million to beef up security.

"Having exhausted other options and still being uncomfortable with the level of risk, we consider road closure the action necessary to best protect the residents of Summit County, as well as the water supply," Denver Water board menber Penfield Tate said in a statement.

The closure blocks one of just three roads that cross the county, said Summit County Commissioner Thomas Davidson.

Seven local agencies — including the Summit County Commission and towns of Frisco, Silverthorne and Dillon — issued a joint statement Tuesday night saying they might sue Denver Water, which owns the dam and the one-mile road across it.

The Denver Water board made the decision on July 2, but held off announcing it until Tuesday. Local governments and emergency responders were offered no role in the decision, said Brandon Williams, a spokesman for Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue.

"We're very disappointed and obviously it came as a great surprise," he said.

State Sen. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, was dismayed by Denver Water's handling of the closure.

"If there's a real, credible threat I want to know about it," he said. "But most importantly local law enforcement need to know about it."

Denver Water said rescue vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists would still be allowed to cross.

"Obviously this is not our preferred mode of communication or cooperation," Denver Water spokeswoman Stacy Chesney said in response to the backlash. "But the board felt it was necessary to minimize the vulnerability between the time the decision was made and the closure."

Denver Water has hired an engineering firm to determine if there are possible alternative routes around the reservoir.

"We understand that the closure will inconvenience motorists in Summit County," Tate said. "However, we have concluded that the grave danger presented by a dam failure outweighs the disruption to travelers."

Sara Rosaglio, the night manager at Dillon Dam Brewery, four blocks away, was bummed out to hear the news of the midnight closure.

"Aw, bummer," she said. "I use that road all the time. A lot of locals do to avoid the highway. It's a kind of secret locals' shortcut to get (from Dillon) to Frisco and Silverthorne."

Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com

Summit County statement

The following joint statement was approved by the Summit County Board of County Commissioners, the towns of Frisco, Silverthorne and Dillon, the Summit County government, Summit County Sheriff's Office and Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue:

# The Denver Water Department today notified all Summit County local governments and fire protection providers that it has decided to close the Dillon Dam Road, effective immediately.

# The announced closure is described to be of indefinite duration, and is apparently based upon information from state and federal agencies, which Denver Water has declined to name, concerning the vulnerability of earthen dams in general.

# It is of particular concern to the Summit County Board of Commissioners and the individual Town Councils that this new information has not been released to any local law enforcement agency in the County.

# While Denver Water has promised to provide information to support its decision, that has not yet taken place.

# It is important to stress that neither Denver Water nor any local agency has received any specific threat concerning the dam, and that they believe there is no present threat to the dam.

# All Summit County local government jurisdictions are seriously affected and deeply disappointed by this precipitate action, and are seriously weighing all legal and practical options available to them at this time

**Hutch** · 07-09-2008, 09:54 AM

WTF? Summit phoned in a threat?

CG · 07-09-2008, 09:57 AM

Heard about this last night, seems like a real inconvenience for the Frisco and Dillion/Silverthorn people

**Name Redacted** · 07-09-2008, 09:57 AM

Retarded! This was just on the denver news too.

I knew a guy who was hired to be a security officer on the dam a few months ago. Guess that wasn't enough. Now If I70 closes for a wreck you are gonna have to drive to swan mtn. How long will it be before swan is closed?

Osama's plan is still working. Kinda sad how scared this country has become.

**TeleHoar** · 07-09-2008, 09:58 AM

The whole county is up in arms this morning.

I just finished several rants on the air about this.

DWB is posturing for some reason. Something is going on at the Dam that they are not telling us about. Lots of suspicious activity lately with people drilling test holes into the dam near the bottom and preparing some drainage type work up top...There is more to this story than DWB being ascared of terrorists. Summit County and the DWB have been at odds lately and this is just (Hopefully) a bunch of petty politics.

DENVER MAGS...help us out and contact the Mayor. He appoints these DWB commisioners and needs to know that Denver voters don't appreciate this type of strong arm tactics. How would you feel if they, say, closed the Cherry Creek Dam road permanently without informing ANYONE?

[/rant]

CG · 07-09-2008, 09:59 AM

Next thing you know, Denver Water will shut down the Waterton Canyon bike trail, maybe Chatfield Res Too

**smmokan** · 07-09-2008, 10:00 AM

A little added security for the "inconvenience" of driving an extra 20 minutes IF I-70 closes. Gee, what a bummer.

Maybe you can complain about it on DenverPost.com like all the other whiny bitches.

**cmsummit** · 07-09-2008, 10:00 AM

People are PISSED about this. It's been all over the local radio stations this morning.

**Whiteroom_Guardian** · 07-09-2008, 10:02 AM

WTF?!

That blows ALOT.

**PowTron** · 07-09-2008, 10:04 AM

Perhaps this will be an excuse for CDOT to get their heads out of their asses and keep 70 OPEN more often?

**brice618** · 07-09-2008, 10:04 AM

Is it really a secret? I drive that road all the time when I'm around... and i'm from texas!

It does seriously suck for locals, that road kicks ass to miss the 70 shitshow.

**lemon boy** · 07-09-2008, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by smmokan

A little added security for the "inconvenience" of driving an extra 20 minutes IF I-70 closes.

What added security? It's fucking bullshit is what it is. No terrorist is going to drive a truck bomb across the damn dam in summit county colorado of all friggin places..ooohhh it washed away tommy hilfiger and a house! It's something else or its just security windowdressing ( for the convention I'm sure ). Road'll be open by winter. Besides, if authorized vehicles can still use it they probably are not putting up more than a 2x4 gate that any good truck bomber would just crash through

**Name Redacted** · 07-09-2008, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by smmokan

A little added security for the "inconvenience" of driving an extra 20 minutes IF I-70 closes. Gee, what a bummer.

Maybe you can complain about it on DenverPost.com like all the other whiny bitches.

You sir, are either trolling or an idiot, or both.

**Dobish** · 07-09-2008, 10:13 AM

i just heard that they are going to flood dillon and turn it into a huge swimming pool....

**brice618** · 07-09-2008, 10:13 AM

Thats just as retarded as the city my parents live in (100,000 people) getting scared of an attack because of some oil refineries being located 15 miles outside of city limits. Ah, paranoia.

**KillingCokes** · 07-09-2008, 10:13 AM

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Ben Franklin

**TeleHoar** · 07-09-2008, 10:14 AM

Meanwhile you can enjoy an extra 8500 people a day on I-70, now.

Summit, lets organize the Summit County Militia!

I see a Boston Pee Party in the future if this continues.

**Name Redacted** · 07-09-2008, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by Dobish

i just heard that they are going to flood dillon and turn it into a huge swimming pool....

Wow, you are behind the times, that's like 1960's news ain't it?

**lemon boy** · 07-09-2008, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by TeleHoar

Meanwhile you can enjoy an extra 8500 people a day on I-70, now.

Summit, lets organize the Summit County Militia!

I see a Boston Pee Party in the future if this continues.

SUMCO Rolling Roadblock Brigade.

Hugh Conway · 07-09-2008, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by smmokan

bbbaaahhhhhhh

holy shit! its another sheeple!

**TeleHoar** · 07-09-2008, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by Dobish

i just heard that they are going to flood dillon and turn it into a huge swimming pool....

...that no one will be allowed to actually swim in.

**summit** · 07-09-2008, 10:26 AM

I hate Denver Water so much.

**Dobish** · 07-09-2008, 10:26 AM

the article I read said that it would then be turned into a very large jello mold, with houses and car instead of fruit chunks....

**TeleHoar** · 07-09-2008, 10:27 AM

Well...we have picked up Silverthorne and moved it before...I guess we can do it again.

Maybe we should move it to Utah...

**coreshot-tourettes** · 07-09-2008, 10:27 AM

How stupid. It's literally not possible to blow that dam with a surface detonation of conventionally available high explosives.

Radius of displaced/disturbed material from a surface detonation goes up as the cube root of explosive weight times about 0.2.

The dam is about 10m across, so let's say you need a 15m crater 7.5m deep to blow the dam. Let's ignore for the moment that the dam gets even wider the farther you go down.

D=0.4W^0.3

Therefore, W=53000kg of HEX, or about 60 tons of HEX in a surface detonation to have even a chance of breaching Dillon. That's more than the *gross* weight of a fully loaded semi (cargo plus vehicle)! And that's at 1m above the dam, which significantly decreases crater formation. In order to blow Dillon, you'd need to park at least 2 fully loaded semis full of HEX and simultaneously blow them, requiring cross connecting them after you park them with several dozen firing points of detcord. Riiiight.

All explosive ordnance capable of breaching an earthworks dam requires delayed detonation of a hardened air-dropped penetrative casing (7/24 root of mass divided by depth for under ground detonation at optimal depth d=d0). And if th' terr'ists have ground-penetrating 5000 lb bombs and the aircraft to carry them, we've got bigger problems.

References:
"CRATERS PRODUCED BY UNDERGROUND EXPLOSIONS"
http://www.cimec.org.ar/ojs/index.ph...ewFile/569/542

"CRATERS PRODUCED BY EXPLOSIONS ON THE SOIL SURFACE"
http://www.cimec.org.ar/ojs/index.ph...ewFile/713/675