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It would be helpful if someone knowledgeable could insert in the first paragraph some information of a comparative nature. Without knowing any more than I do, I cannot tell how this is different than any other dam type. Part of teaching (which is, of course, the purpose of an encyclopedia) is to provide examples and non-examples, to compare and contrast, to provide context in which to place information. And no, don't tell me to look up the other types of dams. If the other articles (assuming I know where to look for them ["Look Ma, No Wikilinks!"]) handle the situation like this one does, I will be forced to conduct my own synthesis, which is again, contrary to the purpose of the encyclopedia. 50.193.171.69 (talk) 16:38, 11 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This would seem to be an excellent illustration of what the Safety section describes: when floodwaters from Hurricane Maria caused a spillway at one end of the dam to start to fail, it was stated that failure of the spillway would mean failure of the entire dam. On the other hand, I'm sure that the same scenario has played out many times in many places over the years, so I didn't feel comfortable adding a reference to just this one.

It does seem like a good idea to mention some of the more notable failures of this type of dam, in order to show how the theoretical issues discussed here apply to real-life events, but I don't have the time or resources to do it myself. Chuck Entz (talk) 06:09, 22 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2023 and 10 April 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Azadirachta indica (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Azadirachta indica (talk) 22:45, 24 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]