Qualla: Teton Dam https://qualla.com/teton-dam en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:04 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Teton Dam https://qualla.com/teton-dam Teton Dam: Introduction https://qualla.com/teton-dam/ Photo credit WolvenOne, Public domain. At 11:55 AM on June 5, 1976, the crest of Teton Dam sagged and collapsed into the reservoir it had never finished filling. Two minutes later, the right-bank third of the main dam wall disintegrated. What followed was a flood that exceeded the average flow of any river on Earth except the Amazon. By 8:00 PM, the reservoir was completely empty. Eleven people were dead, 16,000 livestock drowned, and the small agricultural communities of Wilford and Sugar City had been scoured from the landscape. The dam was never rebuilt.

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Image: WolvenOne | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/9xb9-teton-dam-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Teton Dam: Built on Cracked Foundation https://qualla.com/teton-dam/ Photo credit WolvenOne at English Wikipedia, Public domain. The Bureau of Reclamation proposed the Teton Dam in 1963 after the region suffered severe drought in 1961 followed by devastating floods in 1962. Congress authorized the project without opposition. But geologists knew the site was problematic from the start. The canyon walls cons...

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Image: WolvenOne at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/9xb9-teton-dam-built-on-cracked-foundation.mp3 0:06 2 full Teton Dam: Racing to Fill https://qualla.com/teton-dam/ Photo credit WolvenOne at English Wikipedia, Public domain. The dam was completed in November 1975 and began filling at the standard rate. Heavy snows that winter brought heavier spring runoff than anticipated. The construction engineer requested permission to double the filling rate. A month later, despite monitoring showing groundwater ...

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Image: WolvenOne at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/9xb9-teton-dam-racing-to-fill.mp3 0:06 3 full Teton Dam: Eleven Minutes of Collapse https://qualla.com/teton-dam/ Photo credit WolvenOne at English Wikipedia, Public domain. When the dam failed, it released water at a rate many times greater than Niagara Falls. The flood struck communities immediately downstream: Wilford at the mouth of the canyon, Sugar City, Salem, Hibbard, and Rexburg. Five of the eleven deaths occurred in Wilford. The town of Sug...

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Image: WolvenOne at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/9xb9-teton-dam-eleven-minutes-of-collapse.mp3 0:06 4 full Teton Dam: The Path of Destruction https://qualla.com/teton-dam/ Photo credit WolvenOne at English Wikipedia, Public domain. The flood waters traveled west along the Henrys Fork of the Snake River, flowing around both sides of the Menan Buttes and damaging the community of Roberts. Idaho Falls, further downstream on the flood plain, had time to prepare. At the American Falls Dam, engineers increased di...

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Image: WolvenOne at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/9xb9-teton-dam-the-path-of-destruction.mp3 0:06 5 full Teton Dam: Engineering's Hard Lessons https://qualla.com/teton-dam/ Photo credit WolvenOne at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Investigators identified 'piping' as the probable cause: water seeping through permeable loess soil in the dam's core and fissured rhyolite in its abutments, eroding internal channels until the structure failed. The investigating panel could not determine whether the piping start...

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Image: WolvenOne at English Wikipedia | Public domain

]]> Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/x/b/9/teton-dam-wp/9xb9-teton-dam-engineerings-hard-lessons.mp3 0:06 6 full