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[MUSIC]

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Joan Cartan-Hansen, Host: Dams 
are amazing to see, but if you

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are going to visit, you do need 
to be careful.

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Be sure to obey all posted signs 
and, if you're recreating, stay

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well away from the dam itself. 
While dams are engineering

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marvels, every once in a while, 
they do fail.

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On average, ten dams fail in the 
U.S. every year.

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Most of these are very small, 
causing little damage.

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But when a major dam fails, it 
can be catastrophic.

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The most famous failure in Idaho 
happened in 1976.

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Engineers had just built the 
Teton dam when it collapsed.

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>>"People downstream better get 
out."

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The residents of Wilford had 
only a few minutes of warning

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before 80 million gallons of 
water ripped through their

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homes. 
Flood waters wiped out many

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communities 
And destroyed thousands of acres

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of farm land. 
In the end, the flood cost

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American taxpayers almost half a 
billion dollars.

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Engineers learned a lot from the 
Teton dam failure.

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They're using that new knowledge 
to make today's dams safer.

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For more information about dams, 
check out the science trek

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website. 
You'll find it at science trek

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dot org