Spelga dam
Spelga Dam in the Mourne Mountains (South of Belfast) in Northern Ireland was under construction and started to move. All construction stopped for a year while it was fully investigated. The dam was needed to supply fresh wholesome water to the growing city of Belfast.
It turned out that the dam was being constructed on top of a “mother boulder” as described in the report conducted by the Structural Engineers at the time. All work was stopped and the boulder and clay underneath it was removed before the dam started again on top of the actual bedrock of the valley.
This was the last time explosives had been used in peacetime before the troubles and it led to the creation of the Structural Engineers Institute of Ireland.
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