The plan to stem the disastrous ooze from an Indonesian mud volcano
by dropping 1,000 sets of concrete balls may be revised.
The reason is that the balls slid deeper than expected, about half a mile into the crater. It is said that many more chains of balls may be required to staunch the mudflow.
The aim of the experimental plan is to slow the toxic mudflow, which has submerged entire villages in East Java province by about 50-70 percent.
Up to Monday, five chains comprising four concrete spheres weighing 880-1,100 pounds were dropped into the crater.
Ari Setiadi, one of the technical experts working at the crater, said:
It was not necessarily a bad development that the balls had slid deeper than expected. What is important is that they fall below the threshold safety level of 100 meters.
There is no guarantee that the revision of this experimental attempt will work but if it works, it be a great achievement.
Source: Discovery News