US official: Mosul Dam may collapse as repairing company’s contract ends

The dam is still at a high risk of falling and needs another year of intensive work to be fully stabilized.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A US official recently warned against the collapse of the Mosul Dam as the Iraqi government stalled negotiations to renew the contract with the company repairing the barrier.

The US official pointed to the possible collapse of the dam if the repairing process stops.

The dam is still at a high risk of falling and needs another year of intensive work to be fully stabilized, Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite, the commander of the US Army Corps, told USA Today.

The Iraqi government has delayed the decision to renew a contract with Trevi Group, an Italian engineering firm managed by the US Corps of Engineers, which will expire at the end of this year.

Semonite fears the Iraqi government is “going to be too optimistic” about the level of repairs needed and may not renew the contract with the Italian company.

The Iraqi government is trying to rebuild the structure itself to save money at a time when the country is experiencing an economic downfall due to low oil prices and the war against the Islamic State (IS).

Semonite added that at the end of the second year of repairs, the dam would be safe enough where the danger of destruction could certainly be reduced.

“The risk that the dam poses is still extremely high and it will [remain so] at the end of this first year,” Eric Halpin, an Army Corps dam safety official told USA Today.

The dam was seized by IS extremists in 2014 when the militants first occupied large swaths of territory in Iraq, but it was quickly taken back by the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces.

In February 2016, Italy’s Trevi signed a deal worth USD $296 million to repair and maintain the Mosul Dam.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany