It’s unclear what caused the Orsk dam to collapse at this point but officials suspect the usual culprits in Russian construction disasters: low quality, inferior parts substituted instead of essential parts, and a lack of or non-existent maintenance. Both are “normal” practices in Russia because of rampant corruption. The director of the build came to a novel conclusion, however, saying that rodents may have been responsible. If I’m reading this translated piece correctly, he’s now been arrested or at least being investigated for embezzlement of construction funds.
The dam was built in 2014 and was built to withstand a water level of 5.5 metres. However, at the time of its collapse, a combination of heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt raised water levels in the Ural River to 9.6 metres. Some 6000 homes have been flooded in Orsk, as well as another 4000 across the border in Kazakhstan, the worst natural disaster there in 80 years according to their president. (Thanks, Russia!) There is also some speculation that Russia opened water gates deliberately to relieve the pressure on Orenburg, diverting it to Kazakhstan instead.
The minimum estimate for the damages is $21 billion rubles, but that is expected to increase exponentially. The water is also expected to keep rising, only subsiding around April 20. It now threatens the much larger Russian city of Orenburg.
Source: Moscow Times
The director of Spetsstroy-3 JSC, Sergei Komarov, who participated in the construction of the dam, named the reason for the dam’s breakthrough at a cost of a billion rubles.
“Rodents could have pierced this dam, and this hole would have been enough for water to flow through the dam,” the director said on the air of the “Time will tell” program.
The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for violation of safety rules during construction work (Part 1 of Article 216 of the Criminal Code) and negligence (Article 293 of the Criminal Code). The perpetrators face up to 7 years in prison. The prosecutor’s office said the dam in Orsk was broken due to poor maintenance, and the contractor in charge of the project, Spetsstroy-3, was being investigated for embezzlement of budget funds.
Doctor of Technical Sciences Vladimir Tetelmin said that, presumably, the dam was made of low-quality materials that were sensitive to erosion by water. Also, one of the reasons for the dam’s breakthrough was the disregard for its repair and maintenance. Damage to housing from flooding in the Orenburg region could exceed 21 billion rubles, the deputy head of the Ministry of Construction previously estimated.
Ukrainian Anton Gerashenko with the helpful translation and sarcasm.
Because it’s Russia though, distressed citizens are refusing to leave because of looters.
The Russian Minister arrives and is immediately ridiculed.
Hard to disagree with this sentiment.
The villains.
