June 9 (May 28 according to the old style), 1887. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 9-10 points caused the largest mud and stone flows in the mountains of the Trans-Ili Alatay, which went down in the history of the city as the Vernensky catastrophe.

July 8-9, 1921. Mudflows filled almost all the rivers of the Zailiysky Alatau. As usual, the most powerful mudflows were noted on the rivers Malaya and Bolshaya Almatinka, Talgar, Issyk. The total volume of mudflow removal from the Malaya and Bolshaya Almatinka rivers is estimated at 7.0–10 million m3.

Eyewitnesses recalled:

“The roar of water, the rumble of rolling stones, the crackling of buildings being destroyed, the roar of iron roofs being torn off, huge sparks, probably from pushing stones, warned from afar about the approach of a mudflow. And then an avalanche, consisting of water, mud, pebbles, huge boulders, tree trunks and fragments of destroyed buildings, rushed to the city, demolishing the buildings that came across in its path.

“Then waves up to six meters high began to repeat regularly at intervals of half a minute to a minute, and their number was up to eighty. Entire houses floated along the streets of the city, and the cries for help of people carried away by the water gave an eerie picture of general destruction.

Within five hours, a significant part of Alma-Ata was turned into ruins and flooded with a mass of mud and stone. More than 500 people died.

This is what K. Marks Street (now Kunaev) looked like after the mudflow in 1921 ... (Photo from V. Proskurin's book "Alma-Ata from A to Z in a kaleidoscope of events"

July 7, 1963 The mudflow was formed on a hot sunny day as a result of an outburst of the moraine-glacial lake Zharsai in the upper reaches of the Issyk River. Within 3–4 hours, up to 6–7 million cubic meters of mud and stone mass were carried out of the gorge into the valley. Separate shafts reached a height of 7 m, moving towards the lake at a speed of 5–6 m/s and moving huge boulders on their way. All this caused a sharp rise in the water level on the lake.

Within 5–6 hours, the natural dam was destroyed, and the incredibly beautiful Lake Issyk was destroyed.

“The leadership of the USSR learned about the tragedy on July 15, 1963,according to an eyewitness, member of the Politburo D.A. Kunaev,when the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU was held in Moscow,” recalls Vladimir Proskurin, a well-known local historian from Almaty. - However, the conversation at the meeting was about something else, about the relationship with the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

In the meantime, rumors spread in the city that the work of the Plenum and the village were interconnected. They say, “Maodzedunovites committed sabotage in Issyk, many people died.”

Under the direct impression of the Issyk catastrophe, in Alma-Ata in the second half of the 60s, work unparalleled in world history was carried out to protect against mudflows. In 1966 and 1967, a giant dam was built on Medeo with two directed explosions.

Three years later, this dam held back the mudflow, which was many times stronger than all previous flows. The dam protected the eastern part of the city center, where over 300,000 people lived in an "apparent kill zone.

Kazakhstan postcard early. 60s of the twentieth century overlooking the beautiful lake Issyk

July 15, 1973 The mudflow was formed from the outburst of the moraine lake Tuyuksu. In Alma-Ata then there were heavy rains, and in the zone of moraines and glaciers - heavy snow. In early July, intensive snow and glacier melting began in the mountains, which led to waterlogging of the upper moraine layer. On July 14, a blockage of an underground grotto occurred on the moraine, as a result of which a breakthrough occurred.

After 9 minutes, the mudflow reached the Mynzhilki dam, located in a valley in the upper reaches of the Malaya Almatinka River at an altitude of 3000 meters. The mudflow storage (36 thousand m3) was filled in 3 minutes. After that, the dam collapsed.

Further, to the Medeo mudflow reservoir, the mudflow proceeded at a speed of 10–12 m/s, moving huge boulders 5–6 m in size and weighing up to 300 tons. He instantly destroyed all the small anti-mudflow structures and buildings on his way, leading to great loss of life.

Full mudflow storage at Medeo, 1973

The flow approached the mudflow reservoir of the Medeo dam at 18:17 and lasted about 3 hours. During the passage of the mudflow, 3-4 steep mudflows were noted. The first rampart was the largest, 12–15 m high and 40–50 m wide. Within 3 hours, the mudflow reservoir was almost completely filled. After the passage of the mudflow, only 30% of the free volume remained in the mudflow storage ...

The government of the republic made an urgent decision to build up the dam by 40 m and create a new mudflow storage capacity up to 12.6 million m3.

August 3–4, 1977. The main reason for the formation of mudflows was the outburst of a moraine lake in the upper reaches of the Kumbelsu River. Powerful mud-stone streams entered the valley of the Bolshaya Almatinka River and passed for almost a month - up to 400 mudflows were registered in the mountains. The maximum height of individual shafts reached 10–12 m. This mudflow also turned stones 5–6 m in size.

The construction of the mudflow protection dam "Medeo" in the Medeo tract in the valley of the Malaya Almatinka River began in 1964 and was carried out with the help of blasting. The first blast (right-bank) was made in 1966. The second blast (left-bank) was in 1967. The rockfill dam of the first stage, 107 meters high, formed a mudflow storage with a capacity of 6.2 million cubic meters and was put into operation in 1972. In 1973, the dam held up a mudflow with a mass volume of 5.3 million cubic meters.

Creation of the Medeo Dam. The first right-bank explosion on October 21, 1966.
The tract Medeo. Everything is ready to explode. The initial phase of the explosion. Apogee of the explosion. Rocky soil is laid in the body of the dam.

The mudflow took place in the early evening of the weekend on July 15, 1973. At an altitude of 3500 meters above sea level, there was a breakthrough of the natural bridge of moraine lake No. 2 on the Tuyuksu glacier. The resulting mudflow in a few seconds destroyed a light dam in the Mynzhilki tract, in a matter of minutes it swept past Chimbulak and demolished half of the Gorelnik camp site. Unfortunately, most of the tourists were at that moment on that site, and they all died.

The tourist center "Gorelnik" was broken with such stones.

Then scientists calculated that the strength of the 1973 flow was 4 times the strength of the 1921 flow. Then a quarter of the entire urban development was destroyed, more than 500 people died.

Fragments of an anti-mudflow trap on Gorelnik (above the Medeo dam).

A steel barrier, concreted into the walls of a narrow gorge, fixed with ten steel ropes each as thick as an arm, delayed the mudflow for only a few seconds. A shaft almost 30 meters high, breaking through a fifty-meter-deep canyon here, rushed further - to the dam in Medeo.

Rapidly escaping from behind the last turn, disintegrating along the foundation pit, it collapsed with all its weight on the shield of Alma-Ata - the dam. The dam survived. Shielded the city.

July 15, 1973, 6:15 p.m. Entrance of the first wave of the mud-stone flow into the mud storage in the Medeo tract.
The mudflow hit the body of the dam and choked, filling the pit with itself.

The waters of moraine lakes brought almost 4 million cubic meters of mud and stone mass to the dam. Three hours later, a second mudflow descended from the mountains, raising the water level of the formed lake even higher.

Mudflow Canyon.

The next day, July 16, at 5:25 pm, from the post near the Sarysai River, they reported: mudflow started again. The same news was received at 9:10 pm from a post near the Chimbulak River. Mudflows from Sarysai and Chimbulak went for an hour and a half in total.

Having tamed the mudflow avalanche, the dam kept almost 5 million cubic meters of mudflow mass in its basin.

The tract Medeo. Mudflow lake, dam, mountain ice stadium "Medeo" (left to right).

The dam withstood the first assault, but now its siege has begun. Mudflow clogged drainage pipes. There was a real danger of overflowing the mudflow lake, which every second received up to 12 cubic meters of Almatinka water.

Work on the dam began as early as 5 am on 16 July. It was necessary to use at least 12 powerful pumps, lay kilometers of pipelines. They started installing them right away. At least 10 dredgers were needed, which were not in Alma-Ata at all, they were delivered by cargo planes from Moscow, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg, and on July 20 they began to work.

Mudflow lake behind the dam.

The urgently formed emergency government commission to combat mudflows took emergency measures to conduct emergency work. Hundreds of dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, pipe-laying cranes were sent to the dam.

Construction headquarters.

The army took on a lot of work (pontoons, construction battalion). Divers - there were civilians, from the Volga, there were also military men, from the Baltic, specialists in working in conditions of almost complete lack of visibility (plunging into the mudflow mass, the team of divers tried to break through to the flooded intake of the dam).

Meeting with army commanders.

They began to urgently import equipment and people in order to arrange the pumping of water from the mudflow storage.

Cranes were driven to the very edge, stood on unreliable soils, but experienced people worked on them.

Pumps on pontoons.

It was necessary to carry out the installation of three lines of the pipeline with a diameter of 1420 mm and a kilometer long, and the welding seam must be perfect - there is no way to fix it during pumping. We chose the best welders throughout the headquarters, they cooked day and night, at night the construction site was illuminated by searchlights.

Main working platform (left side).

Main working platform (right side).

On July 18, water filtration began in the body of the dam, to put it simply, leaks formed. It was necessary to urgently concrete. But concrete cannot be placed on a wet surface, and even if placed, it must dry for a certain time. On July 19, they began to spray the oozing streams with the help of ventilation ducts, and immediately concreted the surface of the dam, using the same fans for drying - the work of the Promventilation trust played a big role here. In just one day, five kilometers of spirally wound air ducts were manually installed.

Filtration - leaks in the dam (filmed in the evening, blurry).

With each passing day, the water in the mudflow reservoir arrived, hiding in its depths the tops of fir trees growing on the slopes. By 00:30 on July 20, it reached its maximum level. Less than 15 meters remained to the top of the dam.

Work site.

The pumps started, the water was discharged.

When the pumps drove water through the pipes, the stream did not want to go down the channel prepared behind the dam. He began to destroy the rocks, trying to rush to the ice stadium. And then Ugudey Akaev, Gennady Kupriyanov and Valery Gomonov made a "jewelry" explosion, which removed the threat from the facilities of the sports complex.

Discharge of water along the rocky slope of Mount Mokhnatka.

One and a half kilometers above the dam, the builders of the Alma-Ata-promspetsstroy trust built a water intake in record time, laid a water conduit capable of receiving the raging Almatinka into a steel channel, and, bypassing the mudflow storage, direct it beyond the dam. At noon on August 2, the blocking of the river began, and after a few hours its conquered waters went at great speed along the channel laid by the builders.

Pumping water from Malaya Almatinka.

The fight against the consequences of the mudflow went on both sides of the dam. It was still hot in the mountains, even near the glaciers. Every day they melted faster and faster, and thousands of jets rushed along the slopes, filling the river beds to the brim. To prevent a new mudflow from the Tuyuksu moraine, a special team from helicopters dropped blocks on the glaciers, creating a dense smoke screen from the scorching sun.

Completion of work. Mudflow brought a large amount of silt and mud, it was necessary to restore the volume of mudflow storage. The soil was excavated and hauled away.

After the mudflow in 1973, it was decided to build up the dam. The completion of the construction of the second stage in 1980 significantly increased the capacity of the mudflow storage to 12.6 million cubic meters, the height of the dam was increased to 150 m, its length along the crest was 530 m, and the width along the base was 800 m.

"Medeo - days and nights of courage". A documentary film about the events of those days.
(Link to the video if the built-in does not open: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1phOWYxMDBc)

Oraz Bisenov, one of the liquidators of the mudflow, in 1973 the head of the department "Glavalmaatastroy":

“When we worked on the dam, we didn’t think about fame or, as they say now, about PR - I generally drove filmmakers and television people from the construction site so that they wouldn’t interfere with work, as a result of which I never got into the frame of the film that we have now been viewed, although this film is a valuable document on the history of Alma-Ata, the city in which I have been building all my life.

At that time I was very proud that we have such a city that we protect from mudflows, such a republic and such a country - such a powerful centralized state that it can concentrate when someone is in trouble. I don't know if it could be now if this happens again?"

Website materials used:
Big mudflow 1973: thirty-five years later

The construction of the mudflow protection dam "Medeo" in the Medeo tract in the valley of the Malaya Almatinka River began in 1964 and was carried out with the help of blasting. The first blast (right-bank) was made in 1966. The second blast (left-bank) was in 1967. The rockfill dam of the first stage, 107 meters high, formed a mudflow storage with a capacity of 6.2 million cubic meters and was put into operation in 1972. In 1973, the dam held up a mudflow with a mass volume of 5.3 million cubic meters.

Creation of the Medeo Dam. The first right-bank explosion on October 21, 1966.
The tract Medeo. Everything is ready to explode. The initial phase of the explosion. Apogee of the explosion. Rocky soil is laid in the body of the dam.

The mudflow took place in the early evening of the weekend on July 15, 1973. At an altitude of 3500 meters above sea level, there was a breakthrough of the natural bridge of moraine lake No. 2 on the Tuyuksu glacier. The resulting mudflow in a few seconds destroyed a light dam in the Mynzhilki tract, in a matter of minutes it swept past Chimbulak and demolished half of the Gorelnik camp site. Unfortunately, most of the tourists were at that moment on that site, and they all died.

The tourist center "Gorelnik" was broken with such stones.

Then scientists calculated that the strength of the 1973 flow was 4 times the strength of the 1921 flow. Then a quarter of the entire urban development was destroyed, more than 500 people died.

Fragments of an anti-mudflow trap on Gorelnik (above the Medeo dam).

A steel barrier, concreted into the walls of a narrow gorge, fixed with ten steel ropes each as thick as an arm, delayed the mudflow for only a few seconds. A shaft almost 30 meters high, breaking through a fifty-meter-deep canyon here, rushed further - to the dam in Medeo.

Rapidly escaping from behind the last turn, disintegrating along the foundation pit, it collapsed with all its weight on the shield of Alma-Ata - the dam. The dam survived. Shielded the city.

July 15, 1973, 6:15 p.m. Entrance of the first wave of the mud-stone flow into the mud storage in the Medeo tract.
The mudflow hit the body of the dam and choked, filling the pit with itself.

The waters of moraine lakes brought almost 4 million cubic meters of mud and stone mass to the dam. Three hours later, a second mudflow descended from the mountains, raising the water level of the formed lake even higher.

Mudflow Canyon.

The next day, July 16, at 5:25 pm, from the post near the Sarysai River, they reported: mudflow started again. The same news was received at 9:10 pm from a post near the Chimbulak River. Mudflows from Sarysai and Chimbulak went for an hour and a half in total.

Having tamed the mudflow avalanche, the dam kept almost 5 million cubic meters of mudflow mass in its basin.

The tract Medeo. Mudflow lake, dam, mountain ice stadium "Medeo" (left to right).

The dam withstood the first assault, but now its siege has begun. Mudflow clogged drainage pipes. There was a real danger of overflowing the mudflow lake, which every second received up to 12 cubic meters of Almatinka water.

Work on the dam began as early as 5 am on 16 July. It was necessary to use at least 12 powerful pumps, lay kilometers of pipelines. They started installing them right away. At least 10 dredgers were needed, which were not in Alma-Ata at all, they were delivered by cargo planes from Moscow, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg, and on July 20 they began to work.

Mudflow lake behind the dam.

The urgently formed emergency government commission to combat mudflows took emergency measures to conduct emergency work. Hundreds of dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, pipe-laying cranes were sent to the dam.

Construction headquarters.

The army took on a lot of work (pontoons, construction battalion). Divers - there were civilians, from the Volga, there were also military men, from the Baltic, specialists in working in conditions of almost complete lack of visibility (plunging into the mudflow mass, the team of divers tried to break through to the flooded intake of the dam).

Meeting with army commanders.

They began to urgently import equipment and people in order to arrange the pumping of water from the mudflow storage.

Cranes were driven to the very edge, stood on unreliable soils, but experienced people worked on them.

Pumps on pontoons.

It was necessary to carry out the installation of three lines of the pipeline with a diameter of 1420 mm and a kilometer long, and the welding seam must be perfect - there is no way to fix it during pumping. We chose the best welders throughout the headquarters, they cooked day and night, at night the construction site was illuminated by searchlights.

Main working platform (left side).

Main working platform (right side).

On July 18, water filtration began in the body of the dam, to put it simply, leaks formed. It was necessary to urgently concrete. But concrete cannot be placed on a wet surface, and even if placed, it must dry for a certain time. On July 19, they began to spray the oozing streams with the help of ventilation ducts, and immediately concreted the surface of the dam, using the same fans for drying - the work of the Promventilation trust played a big role here.

Filtration - leaks in the dam (filmed in the evening, blurry).

With each passing day, the water in the mudflow reservoir arrived, hiding in its depths the tops of fir trees growing on the slopes. By 00:30 on July 20, it reached its maximum level. Only 6 meters remained to the top of the dam.

Work site.

The pumps started, the water was discharged.

When the pumps drove water through the pipes, the stream did not want to go down the channel prepared behind the dam. He began to destroy the rocks, trying to rush to the ice stadium. And then Ugudey Akaev, Gennady Kupriyanov and Valery Gomonov made a "jewelry" explosion, which removed the threat from the facilities of the sports complex.

Discharge of water along the rocky slope of Mount Mokhnatka.

One and a half kilometers above the dam, the builders of the Alma-Ata-promspetsstroy trust built a water intake in record time, laid a water conduit capable of receiving the raging Almatinka into a steel channel, and, bypassing the mudflow storage, direct it beyond the dam. At noon on August 2, the blocking of the river began, and after a few hours its conquered waters went at great speed along the channel laid by the builders.

Pumping water from Malaya Almatinka.

The fight against the consequences of the mudflow went on both sides of the dam. It was still hot in the mountains, even near the glaciers. Every day they melted faster and faster, and thousands of jets rushed along the slopes, filling the river beds to the brim. To prevent a new mudflow from the Tuyuksu moraine, a special team from helicopters dropped blocks on the glaciers, creating a dense smoke screen from the scorching sun.

Completion of work. Mudflow brought a large amount of silt and mud, it was necessary to restore the capacity of the reservoir. The soil was excavated and hauled away.

"Medeo - days and nights of courage". A documentary film about the events of those days.
(Link to the video if the built-in does not open: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1phOWYxMDBc)

Oraz Bisenov, one of the liquidators of the mudflow, in 1973 the head of the department "Glavalmaatastroy":

“When we worked on the dam, we didn’t think about fame or, as they say now, about PR - I generally drove filmmakers and television people from the construction site so that they wouldn’t interfere with work, as a result of which I never got into the frame of the film that we have now been viewed, although this film is a valuable document on the history of Alma-Ata, the city in which I have been building all my life.

At that time I was very proud that we have such a city that we protect from mudflows, such a republic and such a country - such a powerful centralized state that it can concentrate when someone is in trouble. I don't know if it could be now if this happens again?"

Website materials used:
Big mudflow 1973: thirty-five years later

Walk along the Maloalmatinsky gorge.

"Nature's idle spy,
I love, forgetting everything around,
Follow the lancet swallow
Over the Evening Pond"

Afanasy Fet. "Swallows".

A trip to the Medeo dam from Almaty.

Dam in rises immediately behind the alpine. In 1966, to protect against mudflows, two unique directed explosions blocked the Maloalmatinskoye Gorge. A complex hydraulic structure rose to a height of 150 meters. On the south side of the dam there is a huge mud storage facility, and the river flows through the tunnel. The mudflow protection facility in , is located 15 kilometers from Almaty. Construction began in 1964 and was carried out with the help of blasting. The first explosion took place in 1966, the second in 1967. Rockfill dam of the first stage (height 107 meters, body volume 5,000,000 cubic meters) formed a mudflow storage with a capacity of 6.2,000,000 cubic meters and was commissioned in 1972. In 1973, it delayed a powerful catastrophic mudflow with a mass volume of 5.3,000,000 cubic meters, which significantly exceeded the capacity of the mudflow storage.The dam withstood the pressure of the mud-stone mass and flood waters, some of them were diverted using a system of siphons and locks.After this mudflow, it was decided to build the 2nd stage of the dam, which was completed in 1980 and significantly increased the capacity of the mudflow reservoir to 12.6,000,000 cubic meters.The height of the dam above sea level is 1750 meters above sea level and was raised to 150 meters, the length along the crest is up to 530 meters, the width at the base is 800 meters.

Promised in a feature report

Probably everyone who climbed the 150-meter height of the anti-mudflow dam in Medeo and looked towards the mountains saw these strange structures below. I did not become an exception. For the first time, having overcome a ladder of 840 steps, I stood sweaty at the fence and looked towards Chimbulak. "What is it?" - He asked a question clearly to a local man. "Rocket Launcher," he joked. Well, let's take a closer look at these megaliths.

I'll try to start briefly to talk about these structures. In fact, the information accumulated since February on the mudflow protection of Almaty, the Medeo dam, the village of 1973 is so much that it will pull on a book in terms of volume.

As you know, Almaty stands in the foothills of Alatau. Several large gorges overlook the city, in which rivers flow, fed by mountain lakes. As long as the situation is stable, everything is fine - mountain water enters the city water supply (this is noticeable - the bath is filled to the top - blue, not yellow as in Moscow). But as soon as something is disturbed (earthquake, rains, abnormal melting of glaciers), the mountain lakes overflow, the water breaks out and rushes down the gorges. At the same time, 1 m3 of water erodes and moves from 5 to 20 m3 of clay and stones. This terrible phenomenon is called mudflow.
Twice - in 1841 and 1921 - the mudflow hit Alma-Ata. The second foray of the elements was devastating. Several hundred houses were demolished, people died, the volume of stone material carried out by the stream was one and a half million cubic meters, and the weight was three million tons. It is clear that the flimsy steel structures built in the early 60s cannot resist such power (which happened in 1973).
In 1963, a terrible disaster occurred on Lake Issyk, when a mudflow descended like a cup splashed out the lake, a secondary powerful stream was formed. The shores of the lake were densely populated, no one knows exactly how many people died.

It was after this event that it was decided to build a reliable defense for the capital of Kazakhstan. I don’t know what kind of conduct led everyone who took part in this construction, but they met exactly by 1973.

In October 1966, in the Medeo Gorge, a unique in the world practice (in terms of the mass of a simultaneous detonation) directed explosion (5.3 thousand tons of explosives) was carried out on the right bank of the river. Malaya Almatinka, and in April 1967 (3.9 thousand tons of explosives) - on the left. In total, about 2.2 million cubic meters of soil were moved, the height of the cofferdam was 80 m. And after six years - without a break, dump trucks were building up the ridge. By July 1973, the building was almost ready - the thickness at the base was 600 meters, the volume of the embankment was 5 million m2, and the height was 116 meters.

In July 1973, there was an unprecedented heat (the opinion was expressed that it was provoked by a nuclear explosion at the Chinese Lop Nor test site), the glaciers were rapidly melting.

On July 15, at an altitude of 3500 meters above sea level, a natural bridge of moraine lake No. 2 broke through on the Tuyuksu glacier. The formed mudflow in a few seconds destroyed a light dam in the Mynzhilki tract, in a matter of minutes it swept past Chimbulak. The flow rate was huge - 60-70 km / h, water flow - 10 thousand cubic meters per second. In the channel of the Malaya Almaatinka river, the mud and stone mass plowed a canyon 30-40 meters deep (this is clearly visible even now). At about six o'clock in the evening, mudflow swept with a terrible roar near the "Gorelnik" rest house. in a few seconds, demolishing a steel protective barrier, This barrier only worsened the situation - for a few seconds the flow stopped, then, having accumulated energy, it broke through the structure and, intensifying, rushed further. Giant boulders weighing several tons (up to 300 tons) scattered from this blow covered the camp site. Many vacationers died - it was the day of arrival.

The flow approached the mudflow reservoir of the Medeo dam at 18:17 and lasted about 3 hours. The dam withstood, taking on a monstrous blow (according to estimates - up to 1000 tons / m2).

And here we come to the topic of our conversation. The dam in Medeo not only blocks off the gorge. In normal operation, it passes the waters of Malaya Almaatinka through itself. Even at the beginning of construction, the river was passed through a huge tunnel, then a dam lay on this tunnel. There were no other spillways in the body of the dam then.

The descended 4 million cubic meters of mudflow (and this is mud with stones) instantly clogged this conduit. A day later, another mudflow came down, bringing another million cubic meters of mud. And the river - after the mudflows continued to carry its waters, only the dam turned into a clogged bath. The water level rose rapidly. Cracks began to appear on the ridge. On July 18, the water level in the mudflow reservoir reached a critical level: 10 meters remained to the crest, water filtration began in the body of the dam, to put it simply, leaks formed. It was impossible to get to the clogged water conduit.
From the very first day, the development of the situation left no doubts, and the transfer of powerful pumps and dredgers began to Alma-Ata. In the shortest possible time, water conduits with a diameter of 140 cm were thrown over the crest of the dam. In two days, as much was done as they are unlikely to be able to do in a month in normal times. Finally, on July 20, the pumps started working, and within a few days the water was pumped out. The dam, the city, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people were saved.

The events of those days are shown in detail in the film. "Medeo - days and nights of courage" . It can be found on the web. The most detailed recollections of an eyewitness who saw the passage of the mudflow and the destruction of Gorelnik are set out in the book of the former tour instructor. base of Iskander Omarov " Notes of a mountain tourism instructor". He even managed to take a photo.

It soon became clear that clearing the mudflow storage from mudflows was becoming a serious problem. The free capacity of the mudflow storage should be increased to 12.5 million cubic meters, which provided a solution to the critical design situation. Such a capacity could only be created by bringing the crest of the dam to the mark of 1900 meters above sea level and exceeding it by sixty-eight meters above the mudflow deposits of 1973. Backfilling of the dam began in 1974 and continued for several more years.

Now the height of the rockfill dam is 150 m, its length along the crest is 530 m, the width along the base is 800 m, its area is 424 thousand square meters. m . 8.5 million m 3 of soil was laid into the body of the dam, including directed explosions - more than 2.5 million m 3 , the rest was filled up in a mechanized way. Capital class - the first, seismic resistance - up to 10 points on the MSK64 scale.
The mudflow storage capacity is 12.6 million m 3 . 27,000 m 3 of reinforced concrete were laid during the construction of drainage and water intake facilities. The total cost of the dam construction was 33.9 million rubles.

The dam in Medeo was equipped with a set of devices for water diversion. In its left part there is a tunnel spillway 540 meters long and 16 square meters in cross section. Further, a duplicate spillway was built - 460 meters long.
The building consists of four multi-tiered water intake(permanent operational spillways) with two horizontal and one inclined adits and one tower-slit spillway. Water from water intakes is discharged through a permanent operational tunnel with a fast current.
The entire system of these structures is located outside the action of the dynamic axis of the potential mudflow, which can ensure their reliable operation during the impact of mudflow waves. The system of spillway and water intake structures ensures the discharge of water from any horizon.

It is these water intakes of the structure that are visible from the crest of the dam or from the gondola of the cable car.

The tower in the center is a tower-slot (mine) water intake, in three directions, like spread fingers, multi-tiered water intakes look. On the right at the upper level is a tilt-slot receiver. In general - for all occasions. Not one so the other will remain intact and will work.

Tower-slot water intake. The bridge is closed, but judging by the footprints, the gate is not a hindrance. Rather, the room is empty, a shaft covered with a lid is visible through the gap of the door.

We go down below. The level difference is clearly visible. Multi-tiered receivers are stronger, based on a rocky foundation. Their role is to release water from the main body of the mudflow - where there is mud with stones. The tower water intake is designed to drain water from the upper, more liquid layer of the village. The upper horizon reaches the level of the dam crest.

I go out to the roof of a multi-tiered building. The hole is not covered. Inside - an inclined shaft, 50 meters deep, a flimsy staircase is visible hanging in the void and going down (the photo did not work out because of the darkness).

To the right and to the left there are such steep stairs. Despite the appearance, they are strong. We go down, on the way going to the intermediate platforms and looking into the hatches. The sites are covered with snow, it is not visible under it whether there is a cover or not.

The same staircase - we just descended from above.

As you can see, the inlets are large, covered with gratings made of thick steel plates. There was no ruler, each probably about 2 cm thick and about 20 cm wide. It is they who have to withstand the impact of the mudflow. There are only 11 horizons on this water intake, in depth they are united by an inclined shaft. One plate was broken, but I didn’t want to climb there alone - if it happened that no one even knew that I had gone here. And who would miss a business trip person in a foreign city?

and this is Malaya Almatinka itself, view upstream. While winter is flowing quietly. The portal of the lower water intake is completely iced up and it is not visible from under the snow - the photo is not interesting. God willing, I'll come here in the summer ...

About here, not only skiing is held in high esteem!

Having made our way up to the waist in the snow, we climb up to the foot of the tower water intake. The technological hatch is also closed by a strong design. The horizontal slot is the actual culvert. As you can see, it is designed to hold smaller mudflow elements.

And this is a March photo from the cable car gondola. All three types of water receivers. Inclined - apparently a reserve for mine. It, like the multi-tiered one, rests on a rock and will work if the tower one is demolished by a mudflow.

Medium multilayer.

Inclined water intake close-up.

Again, the first multi-tiered.

Tower water inlet in profile close-up.

Well, where the water goes, we have already seen in the first part. There is a half-kilometer tunnel in the body of the dam. On the opposite side there is a portal and a sloping spillway.

while the winter water is scarce. but there is this message: The measurements were made during the period of discharge through the flow channel r. Malaya Almatinka: Q = 5.5 m3/s, water velocity V=3.5 m/s, flow depth H = 0.5 m." It's not even a collector wave.

In this regard, there is one tricky question. During the liquidation of the mudflow in 1973, it was experimentally found that at flow rates of more than 30 m3/sec, the gorge begins to erode and there is a threat of a secondary mudflow. Therefore, it is completely incomprehensible for what reason such a delayed-action mine was laid under the side of the rink. If something happens, it will be impossible to pass water at a high rate because of the threat of destroying the skating rink. Why a concrete flume or a covered tunnel was not made that leads the river below the skating rink is not clear.