ENGINEERS: Is this statement true?

Question

"The longer you have levees that have water up against them, the better the chance you have a levee being compromised."

STORY: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080621/ap_on_re_us/midwest_flooding

Is it true that if there is water massing behind a levee, it has a higher risk of failing?

How many years would I need to go to college to gain this deep intellectual insight?

Please be specific.

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Answer 1

Yes I believe that is a true statement.  Mr. Ben Miller was quoted as saying that it is OBVIOUS that "The longer you have water up against them, the better the chance you have of a levee being compromised".

Specifically Miller said this for the benefit of people to whom it is not obvious. I am not sure how long you would have to go to college for it to become obvious to you.  Don`t give up though because at least you did have the initiative to ask. Not only did you ask but you also selected the most intelligent group of professionals to address your question to.  This alone tells me your intellectual insight just needs honing up a bit. Hang in there dude.

Answer 2

It's such a general question, but of course it's true.

You have an external force against the levee which will increase the probability of failure. It's like saying staying in the sun will increase your chances of getting skin cancer.

That doesn't mean you should worry. Engineers build things to specifications to take in consideration many forces.

The increased probability of failure may be to the order of 0.05 percent or 75 percent depending on if the engineers built the levee well.

This statement is common sense. If you want to be able to calculate the actual probablity of failure you need to study statics and dynamics which require physics and math to include statistics and probability. It would probably take you 2-3 years to gain general engineering insight and 4-5 years to be able to fully understand the problem.

Answer 3

um. none.  there are just those who will understand and those who do not.  nothing, not even education can change that.  Your funny.