Danger at Table Rock Dam

[taxidermist]

Wild minnow, thats right haha MINNOW.

1st No it is not safe to dive and touch the face of the dam. Matter of fact the riprap is all you are allowed to dive. No I will never see a fish stuck in the screens I will not dive the concrete area.

Doing things like that will end up causing loss of privledges.

Last my BASS is bigger than yours!!!! BUt it will cost you to see it. BUt I did catch it at Sara Gossa Spain some years back and its a largemouth bass all bass, well excpet the foam body. and eyes. Matter of fact I just remounted it, yes sometimes I can remount an a fish and I decided its time to remount it.

You got cash? I dont show my bass to just anyone for free and you dont qualify with a small mind even though it does handicap you a bit.

Do you qualify to hang the blue tag on your fishing rod?

Willing to put MOney where your mouth is????

Sweet dreams John

[wildminnow]

I think some of us really need to go back to 2nd grade and work on reading for comprehension. For the second time I will refer Wayne to the original post that this family came off of the hill down to the darn, a fence to keep them off the hill might be a good idea there that is not an armed 24/7 paid security guard is it? Taxidermist I guess that was your attempt at humor but I guess I fail to see it, no one cares about your mounted Spanish bass, I was refering to another one of your tall tales about the striper, I also liked the one you told about 12 knot current at dewy short and someone else seemed to strike that one down also.

[Phil Lilley]

no one cares about your mounted Spanish bass

I do! Would love to see it.

[RiverRunner]

When I was in Tennessee and Alabama and used TVA facilities, I noticed that they took security a lot more seriously than the COE or SWPA. Right after 9/11, they closed the area 250 yards below all dams to boating or fishing, which seriously disrupted fishing on the tailwaters (on TVA lakes, you can normally boat up to the face of the dams). They also gated off access to locks, fishing piers, and generation facilites. Although you can now boat back up to the dams, they have installed permaneant fences and gates to keep people away from the dam who are on foot. When terror alerts are issued, they also close all visitor centers and suspend tours. Its worth noting that the TVA has their own police force that patrols TVA facilties.

I've always thought it was strange how much difference their was in the way that the COE and SWPA ran operations compared to the TVA. Of course, if the TVA was to take over the operations of the White River Dams, it would be a good thing since the TVA has a much better record when it comes to water quality and fisheries issues than the COE or SWPA.

[gonefishin]

I still think paranoia is the word. I am not worried about any terrorist plots against TR Dam or Powersite Dam. These would have to be really low priority targets. Looks to me more like dams around major populated areas would be more worth worrying about. Or nuclear power plants; or our food supplies; or major transportation systems ect ect.

I think it would do everyone good to relax and quit worrying about TR dam. Maybe going fishing would be a good prescription.

[Terry Beeson]

GF... You're right... Paranoia is the buzz word for the day.

RR... You're right... I've not fished TVA tailwaters, but I hear they are just as you say and will become more popular than Arkansas/Missouri waters if we're not careful...

WM... In 2nd grade, I learned a "DAM" held back water. "darn" was a naughty word my dad used... and my momma slapped me for using... And I'm with Phil... I want to see that Spainish bass myself...

And if there WAS a fence at the top of the hill, the family would have just driven down to Outlet 1 and walked up the bank...

[Wayne SW/MO]

Let me tell you if someone wanted to take down tablerock it would be as simple as getting a moving truck, and making a truck bomb the public parking lot is right there at the base of the darn I am by no means an expert, but Im guessing you could get close enough to succeed in your mission. How many tourist a day park down there? Leave your truck get picked up detonate from afar. The scary thing with a darn is that it naturally wants to come down. A hole in any part of it weakens the entire structure

Wildminner, you made this post before I ever entered this, uh.. debate.

I think the inital point was these dams are easy targets for someone who wants to cause major destruction and devisatation. It is a pretty cheap investment to have a little security at these locations versus the devastation and loss of life (which I can't even begin to place a value on life) that would occur.

Didn't make this one either.

Basicaly I know I ain't skeered, and I don't know what a Calico Wayne is.

[wildminnow]

Well boys you got me on the spelling of dam. My bad on that sorry to offend you, but beeson I thought on post 18 you said you done debating this matter, As for you wayne, that second quote is not from me so keep prowlin around to see who you are talking about on that one

[PowersiteProwler]

I'm not going to debate further,

Yeah right Beeson, back on Post #18 you said you were done debating. I think it is funny that 5 posts later you are still trying to get the last word in. You can have the last word if it means that much to you as I won't have time to debate any further with you as I will be reading short stories by Terry Beeson this afternoon.

Calico Wayne, I thought maybe that was the name of your cute little cat that you are trying to shoot with a .45?

[jOrOb]

Sup yall! I kinda discovered this one a little late, but I gotta offer what I can anyway.

I was under the impression that the additional spillway was exclusively to stop catastrophic failure of TRD. The way I understand it, the Corp (geniuses I know) determined that if Catastrophic failure occurred at TRD, Powersite would fail, causing BSD and GFD to fail, causing untold thousands of lives to be taken by a HUGE flood heading out to sea. Am I wrong here??

To that end, I would think destruction by explosives would be considered Catastrophic failure.

Second, it would take MASSIVE power to blow a dam from the backside. Without water pressure to force the charge, it would just blow up the face and make a really loud BOOM. This is the purpose of developing SADM(Small Atomic Demolition Munition and MADM (Medium Atomic Demolition Munitions munitions. Seal teams worked on using these man portable (120 to 180LBS) nuclear devices to destroy dams. They figured that was easier than driving that big ole truck that Silvermallard was talking about (which would work if you got it close enough). While there are dozens of Russian versions, called suitcase nukes, available worldwide, it would still be difficult to get it into place and detonate without someone noticing.

Also, in WW2 USAF bombers worked hard to develop Dam Buster bombs. The intention was to destroy the German infrastructure by draining their water supply reservoirs and power production grid. As far as I know, we never did it, but the intent was there.

I agree that population makes us a less likely target, but it also makes us more accessible. Detonate one bomb and you get:

Branson wiped out (pretty well known city)

lots of lost life (who knows but Corps says a lot)

Destruction of recreational fisheries which in turn destroys tourism (which is significant)

tons of lost rice and soybeen crops to the south

Sounds like a pretty sweet terrorist target to me!

But I would swim it in from above.