How Do Spillways Work?

We normally build a dam to hold water back and store it for use in water supply, irrigation, hydropower, or flood control. But sometimes we have to let some water go. Whether we need it downstream or the impounded water behind the dam is simply too full to store any more, nearly every dam needs a...

8 min - How Things Work - Practical Engineering

More: How It Works documentaries

Read Deeper: How It Works

1. The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay (4.3/5) - View on Amazon
2. How Things Work by Louis A. Bloomfield - View on Amazon
3. Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
4. What If? by Randall Munroe (4.3/5) - View on Amazon

Watch Next

• How Weed Eaters Work (at 62,000 FRAMES PER SECOND) - Smarter Every Day 236 (19 min, Smarter Every Day)
• How Do Cicadas Make Noise? (In Slow Motion) - Smarter Every Day 299 (23 min, Smarter Every Day)
• How Does NASA Practice Landing on the Moon? - Smarter Every Day 252 (27 min, Smarter Every Day)
• How Air Ambulances (Don't) Work (23 min, Wendover Productions)
• How ICE's Surveillance System Works (21 min, Wendover Productions)
• How the YouTube Creator Economy Works (19 min, Wendover Productions)
• How Ocean Shipping Works (And Why It's Broken) (19 min, Wendover Productions)
• How does a whip break the sound barrier? (Slow Motion Shockwave formation) - Smarter Every Day 207 (11 min, Smarter Every Day)