Fixing Mosul Dam

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Mosul Dam in Iraq was built with a critical flaw: a foundation of very water-soluble gypsum.

Although the original design made efforts to stabilize the gypsum foundation, it was constantly eroding.

Getting the dam stabilized to the point where Iraqi engineers could maintain it was a huge multi-year international effort in the midst of armed conflict.

Keeping the water in a reservoir is an obvious challenge for any dam. But for Iraq’s Mosul Dam, it’s especially challenging because the dam was built on a foundation of gypsum, a highly water-soluble mineral. Since it was built, Mosul Dam’s water has been eating away at the underlying bedrock, making sinkholes, forcing gaps, and generally working its way out. That, obviously, creates a huge risk for dam failure and massive downstream flooding.

To get the dam stabilized–at least to a point where Iraqi engineers could keep up with filling the holes as they form–took a massive international engineering project, carried out in the shadow of armed conflict. (Video and image credit: Practical Engineering)