Indonesian Mud Flow - A Solution?

by CKR

Satria Bijaksana, at the Bandung Institute of Technology, has come up with a plan to stop the mudflow near Sidoarjo in eastern Java. (Previous WhirledView coverage here.)

Concrete spheres, 20-40 centimeters in diameter, four chained together at a time, are being used to plug the flow. The chamber is much deeper than was expected, so many, many spheres are likely to be needed. But the flow stopped for a short time earlier this week, and the temperature of the mud has fallen, so maybe the scheme is working.

Worries are that the pressure will build to shoot the spheres out, cannonball-like, or that the flow will emerge from somewhere else. But the pressure was contained before the earthquake or drilling that caused it, and it may be again.

People who were displaced by the mud flow are demanding cash for resettlement. Lapindo Brantas, the company that was drilling in the area when the flow erupted, has been ordered by the government to pay up.

Photo from BBC News.