WORLD’S MOST
FASCINATING DAMS
Water Resources Engineering
1T-1819
Far Eastern University – Manila
I.
Dams
A dam is a hydraulic structure constructed across a river
or a natural stream to store water on its upstream side.
Dams are also considered as an impervious or fairly
impervious barrier put across a river or a natural stream
to create a reservoir for impounding water. Dams are
multifunctional. I can be used for water supply,
irrigation, hydro-power and flood control.
The design of dams must include the following factors
1. Water Tight (Impervious characteristic) – water must not leak out of the dam
and escape downstream.
2. Sufficient Strength (Able to stand permanently under its own weight) – resist
water pressure in the upstream of the dam.
3. Releasing Water (Outlet valve) – allows volume of water to be released
depending on the situation.
4. Flood Water Flow - Large volumes of flood water can flow around the dam
without causing damage to the dam itself.
Importance of Dams
Dams are multifunctional.
Some of its purposes are as
follows:
1. Domestic and Municipal
Water Supply
2. Irrigation Water Supply
3. Hydropower Water Supply
4. Flood Control
1. Storage Dams – are dams used mainly for storing water
for various purposes.
2. Diversion Dams – are dams used for direction
alteration of water flow.
Types of Storage Dams
Types of Diversion Dams
a. Gravity Dams – a solid masonry concrete structure with its
cross section approximately triangular in shape. It is the
most commonly used type of dam in the world. Various
forces acting on the dam are water pressure, weight of the
dam, uplift pressure, earthquake forces, silt pressure, wave
pressure, ice pressure and wind pressure.
b. Earthfill/ Rockfill Dams – embankment which uses
variable sizes of quarried stones/ rocks to provide stability.
c. Arch Dams – constructed in the form of an arch supported
on abutments. Its curve shape plan is designed to store
more volume of water. The water pressure is transferred to
the foundation by cantilever action.
d. Buttress Dams – consists of a number of buttresses or
piers dividing the space to be dammed into a number of
spans. To store the water between these buttresses, panels
are constructed of horizontal arches or flat slabs which has
an inclination of 30°- 45°.
a. Weir Dams – a barrier across the river designed to
alter its flow characteristics. The main difference of
weirs and dams is their height and duration for which
the supply is stored.
b. Barrage – a low head, diversion dam consists of a
number of large gates that can be opened or closed to
control the amount of water. It is built on flat terrain
across wide, often meandering rivers.
CONTRA DAM
HISTORY
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Location: Val Verzasca of Ticino,
Switzerland
Type of Dam: Concrete Slender
Arch Dam
Construction began in 1961 and
ended in 1969.
Height: 220 m
Crest Length: 330 m
Dr. Giovanni Lombardi – Chief
Engineer for the design and
construction.
Crest Width: 7 m
Base Width: 25 m
Reservoir’s Surface Area: 160
hectares
660.000 m3 of concrete were
used.
The dam’s outlet works consists
of two discharge pipes,
releasing up to 170 m3/s and
can reach as high as 1,000 m3/s.
Surface Area: 44,500 m2
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
PURPOSE
Discharge rate: 1,300 m3/s
Power Generation
Hydropower: 105 MW
Recreation (Bungee Jumping)
Capacity: 105 million m3
Due to its geographical location,
being a landlocked country in
the middle of alphe mountain
range, Switzerland has to erect
dams in every corner of its
domain in order to sustain its
national grid.
TRIVIA
In 1995, James Boind jumped
from the top of the dam in the
opening scene of Golden Eye.
The first to use computer
designing the dam (IBM 1130).
GORDON DAM
HISTORY
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Location: Southwest Tasmania,
Australia
Type of Dam: Double Curvature
Arch Dam (Concrete)
Construction began in 1974 and
completed in 1978 by Hydro
Electric Corporation
Engr. Sergio Giudici headed the
construction
Lake Pedder was originally
flooded as part of Gordon
Power scheme.
Owner of the
HydroTasmania
dam
is
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Total capacity: 12.4 km3
Catchment Area: 1280 km3
Height: 140 m
Length: 190 m
Surface Area: 278 km2
Elevation at crest: 310 masl
Serving Area: Southwest
Tasmania
Dam Volume: 154,000 m3
Reservoir - Lake Gordon
PURPOSE
TRIVIA
Water Supply: Store the flow in
Tasmania’s largest river, Gordon
River
Strathgordon
Village
was
established for the staff and
workers.
Power
Generation:
river’s
level
for
generation
Raises
power
Out of 48 arch dams in
Australia, only 9 have double
curvature.
Tourism: World’s highest abseil,
run by Aardvark Adventures
Gordon Dam is the tallest dam
in Tasmania and fifth tallest
dam in Australia.
The procedure used in the
design were presented at an
international symposium on
Criteria and Assumptions for
the Numerical Analysis of Dam
in UK.
Featured at Guiness Book of
World record for the highest
basketball shot.
MONTICELLO DAM
HISTORY
Location: Putah Creek, Napa
County, California, USA
38°30” Latitude,
122°6” Longditude
Construction was proposed by
Solano County Water Council in
1940s to meet the growing
demands of water.
Peter Kiewit and Sons Company
of San Francisco and Parish
Brothers of Benicia won the
bidding. It costs $7.63 million.
CONSTRUCTION:
• 1953-Start of construction
• 1956-Construction halted
• November 7, 1957 -end of
construction
• 1983 -Hydropower Plant was
constructed
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Type of Dam:
Gravity arch, concrete, mediumthick arch dam
Height: 304 ft above the
foundation
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Every year the dam provides
about 200,000 acre-feet of
water
Lake Berryessa Storage
Capacity:
1,602,000 acre-feet
Crest Length: 1, 023 feet
Lake Berryesa
Length: 23 miles
Width: 3 miles
Shoreline: 165 miles
Morning Glory Spillway
Diameter:
72 feet (largest) to
28 feet (narrowest)
Morning Glory Spillway
Rate:
48,800 cubic feet per second
PURPOSE
TRIVIA
To provide water in Napa and
Solano counties in California.
The name Montecillo Dam was
after the Montecillo Town that
sink upon the construction of
the dam.
The water is distributed by the
Solano Irrigation district.
To regulate flows along the
lower reaches of Putah Creek
and stores surplus water.
Water supply for agriculture
Flood control in Putah creek
Hydropower along Napa County
The construction created Lake
Berryesa.
The origin of the name
Berryessa is from two brothers
with the last name of Berryessa.
The Monticello Dam Morning
Glory Spillway is the largest
bell-mouth spillway in the
world. It was also known as
“The Glory Hole”.
The reservoir took five years to
fill after construction.
Lake Berryessa is currently the
seventh largest man-made lake
in California.
HOOVER DAM
HISTORY
Location:
Boulder City, Nevada
BOULDER CANON PROJECT –
name of the project of building
Hoover Dam
Great Depression Era
It was declared as a National
Historic Landmark in 1985.
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Type of Dam: Gravity Arch Dam
Height – 221 m
Base width – 201 m
Crest width – 14 m
Interblocking blocks were used
in building the dam
4 50ft diameter diversion
tunnels with 3 miles in length
installed
17 generators that
100,000 households.
supply
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Dam Volume:
2.48 million cubic meters
Spillway capacity:
11,000 cu.m/s
Total Capacity: 32,500 km3
Catchment Area: 435,000 km2
Surface Area: 640 km2
Water Depth: 180 m
PURPOSE
TRIVIA
Irrigation
Irrigates more tha one million
acres in US and half million
acres in Mexico.
It was once the tallest time
before.
Water Supply
Provides water supply in
Nevada, California, and other
parts of US. Over 18 million
people is being supplied by the
dam.
Flood Control
Flood was a regular hazard for
farmers but with the dam in
place, the flow of the river can
be controlled.
4 Hydroelectric Power
17 turbines
Generates 4 billion kW/h
annualy supplying 56% of
California and 25% of Nevada .
During WWII, the dam was
targeted by Germans.
An entire city called “Boulder
City” was created for its
workers.
THREE GORGES DAM
HISTORY
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Location: Sandouping, Yichang
City, Hubei province.
Type of Dam: straight-crested
concrete gravity structure
A large dam across the Yangtze
River was originally envisioned
by Sun Yat-sen in The
International Development of
China, in 1919.
2,335 metres (7,660 feet) long
with a maximum height of 185
metres (607 feet)
In 1932, the Nationalist
government, led by Chiang Kaishek, began preliminary work
on plans in the Three Gorges.
Construction
started
on
December 14, 1994. The dam
was expected to be fully
operational in 2009, but
additional projects, such as the
underground power plant with
six
additional
generators,
delayed full operation until May
2012.
28 million cubic metres (37
million cubic yards) of concrete
and 463,000 metric tons of
steel into its design.
483-meter spillway
The bedrock of the dam site is
sound and intact granite with
100 MPa of compressive
strength.
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Total capacity:
39.3 km3
(31,900,000 acre⋅ft)
MAXIMUM LENGTH: 600 KM
NORMAL ELEVATION: 175 m
Power generation is managed
by China Yangtze Power. The
Three Gorges Dam is the
world's
largest
capacity
hydroelectric power station
with 34 generators: 32 main
generators.
Serving Areas:
CHONGQING
FULING
WUSHAN
THREEE LITTLE GORGES
QUTANG
WU XIA GORGE
BADONG
XILING GORGE
GEZHOUBA DAM
PURPOSE
Flood Control
Power Generation
Improved Tourism
Improved Navigation
TRIVIA
Largest Concrete Structure in
the World
LARGEST
HYDRO
POWER
PROJECT IN THE WORLD
YANGTZE RIVER IS THE LARGEST
RIVER IN ASIA
YANGTZE RIVER IS THE THIRD
LARGEST IN THE WORLD.
TARBELA DAM
HISTORY
Location: Swabi and Haripur
Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
Pakistan
Construction began in 1968 and
ended in 1976.
It
was
constructed
to
compensate for the loss of
water supplies of the Eastern
Rivers and as a part of the Indus
Basin Project after signing of
the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty
between India and Pakistan.
Cost of Dam construction: $1.49
billion.
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Type of dam: Embankment Dam
Height: 470 ft
Length: 9000 ft
138 million yards of fill
3 stages of construction
1. Diversion channel was made
for the flow of water
2. Main embankment dam was
made along the tunnels.
3. Spillways that causes closing
of the diversion channel and
upper portion of the
embankment
was
completed.
2 types of Spillway
1. Service Spillway
2. Auxiliary Spillway
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
PURPOSE
TRIVIA
Irrigation: regulate flows of
Indus River
Tarbela Dam – world’s largest
filltype dam.
Catchment area: 168,000 sq.km
Surface Area: 250 sq.km
Flood Control: conserving snow
melt and monsoon flows of the
Indus River.
Second largest dam in the
worlds in terms of reservoir
capacity, which is 11.62 million
acre-ft (1.3 billion cubic meters)
70% of water – for spillway
30% of water – for hydroelectric
power
Power generation: 10x175 MW
of turbines, 14.959 billion kWh
of electricity per annum.
Total capacity: 13.69 cubic km
Height 143.26 meters
Length: 2743.2 meters
ALMENDRA DAM
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Location: Salamanca, Spain
Type of dam: Arch Gravity Dam
Coordinates:
41°16’7.83” N
06°19’13.43” W
Height: 202 m
Length: 567 m
Total capacity: 2.5 billion cubic
meter
Height 500 meters
Length: 202 meters
HISTORY
Construction began in 1964 and
ended in 1970.
Spillway capacity – 3039 m3/s
2 spillways
Catchment area: 7100 km2
PURPOSE
Maintains water supply as
required by environmental
conditions.
Almendra – “Almonds”
Flood Control
Hydroelectric powerplant type:
One-loop Pimped Hydro Storage
Flow rate: 3039 cu.m/s
Powerplant is located in River
Duero
With installed capacity of 810
MW divided into 6 turbines.
TRIVIA
Power generation – supplies the
Villarino
Powerstation
via
tunnel for hydroelectric power
generation.
Storage reservoir
One of Spain’s Tallest structure.
Operated by Iberdrola
It was named after a village
which literally means almond.
ITAIPU DAM
HISTORY
Location: Parana River, South
America, between Foz Do
Iguacu, Brazil and Hernandarias,
Paraguay
Coordinates:
25°24’29” S, 54°35’20” W
Negotiation between Brazil
and Paraguay
Iguacu Act (Ata Do Iguacu) –
signed on June 22, 1996 – study
of
the
exploitation
of
hydroelectric resources.
Itaipu Treaty – signed on April
26, 1973 – construction and
development of hydroelectric
resources
Itaipu Binacional – responsible
for
construction
and
management of dam
Construction began on January
1971 and the opening date is
May 5, 1984. It costs $19.6
billion.
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
Type of Dam: Composite Dam,
combination of 4 dams (gravity,
buttress, embankment)
Dimensions:
196 meter (643 ft) high
7,919 meters long
There are 28 giant turbines in a
half mile long power house.
Each turbine weighs 800
pounds and 53 feet across.
50 million tons of earth were
removed during the
construction
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Total Capacity:
29 cu.km
Catchment Area:
1,350,000 sq. km
Maximum Length – 170 km
Maximum Width – 12 km
The dam serves two countries,
Brazil & Paraguay. It powers
25% of Brazil and 78% of
Paraguay.
PURPOSE
Tourism – One of the Seven
Wonders of Modern World
Job opportunity
Power generation - To generate
electricity to two countries:
Paraguay and Brazil.
TRIVIA
University has opened beside
the dam in 2017 for ensuring
the supply of engineers and
scientists to maintain the dam
in the future.
40, 000 workers were hired to
build the dam.
It took 7 years to build.
50 million tons of earth and
rock to be moved to create the
channel to divert the water
from the Parana River.
Fish pass constructed as part of
the environmental mitigation
10,000 families displaced for
the dam’s reservoir.
ATATURK DAM
HISTORY
Location: Sanlifura, Turkey
Coordinates:
37°28’54” N
38°19’03” E
Construction began in 1983 and
completed on 1990.
The dam started its operation in
1993.
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Type of Dam: Zoned Rockfill
Dam with a central core.
Reservoir capacity: 48,700,000
km3
Dimensions:
Height: 169 m
Width: 1820 m
Surface Area: 817 km2
Hydroelectric Powerplant
- Capacity of 2400 MW
- Generating 8,900 GWh of
electricity annually.
PURPOSE
TRIVIA
Irrigation
Control the flow pattern of
Euphrates and Tigris Rivers
The original name of the dam is
“Karibaba
Dam”. It was
renamed to give honour to the
first President of the Turkey,
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Hydro-electricity
2,400 MW with 8,900 GWh per
annum is generated.
Fishery
Abundant source of food and
recreational fishing.
The whole area is divided into
21 fishing sectors.
Recreational Sports:
Water sports festivel
International Ataturk
(October)
Dam
Ataturk Dam is one of the
largest dams in the world and
ranks sixth amongst the largest
earthfill embankment dams inn
the world.
The reservoir created behind
the dam, called Lake Ataturk
Dam is the third largest in the
world.
KARIBA DAM
HISTORY
Location: Zambia, Zimbabwe
Shared by
countries,
Zimbabwe.
two sovereign
Zambia
and
Construction began in 1955 and
ended in 1959.
Construction cost; $480 million
STRUCTURAL
COMPONENTS
CAPACITY AND
SERVING AREA
Type of Dam: Double curvature
concrete arch dam
Total Capacity: 180 km3
Catchment Area: 663,000 km2
Designed by Coyne et Belier
Surface Area: 5400 km2
Max Length: 280 km
Maximum Water Depth: 97 m
Stands 128 m (420 ft) and 579
m (1900 ft) long
PURPOSE
TRIVIA
Power generation – delivers
electricity
to
Zambia
&
Zimbabwe.
Lake Kariba – World’s largest
manmade lake and reservoir by
volume.
Two power stations on each
bank of the river, with a
combined capacity of 1320 MW.
Kariba came from the word
“Kariva” meaning “little trap.”
- South Bank Station
- North Bank Station
Kariba Town was constructed
Paved Road was constructed
Resettlement of 50,000 Africans
Nyaminyami (River God) was
not satisfied on building the
dam that resulted to calamities
and lost of lives.