The Coming Cataclysm of the Gorge

So far, so good. The Three Gorges dam has not ruptured, the dragon of the Yangtze has not awakened in sound and fury. All isn't right with the world, but at least the world has been spared one more mind-wrenching catastrophe with which to crown what has to have been a truly dismal year-so far.

Yet even with the calm of autumn, I worry still. The rains are still devastating, but they are diminishing. Supposedly, most of the monsoon season at least, will be over by the end of this month.

 But that hardly means that danger is past us. When the St. Francis Dam in Los Angeles ruptured after all, reportedly there wasn't a drop in the sky. It isn't just bulk water that endangers a dam after all. 

Probably the greatest danger of all is time and the wear and tear it brings on such a huge structure. I wish to God, someone would somehow use sensors on the bottom, After all, wasn't it said that the great concrete blocks were simply laid on the river bed, or otherwise not properly fastened to the bedrock?

If that's the case, it's possible that the foundation has indeed moved, or the bedrock has been eroded by water flow, or a combination of factors. What is a fact is that the form and movement of the water has changed oddly since the beginning of September. It is turgid, with whitecaps, rather resembling wild water.

Is it possible that water flow is seeping through the dam itself from the bottom? If so, how long before a block slips, the bedrock gives way and the dam ruptures not from the top as it is thought, but from the bottom? That the great danger is in fact out of sight, out of mind, lulling too casual observers into unwarranted complacency? 

The fate of hundreds of millions hangs in the balance, hopefully these are empty words.