El Atazar Dam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
El Atazar Dam is an arch dam built near Madrid, Spain on the Lozoya River, very close to where it joins the Jarama. The curved design of the dam is optimum for the narrow gorge in which it was built to retain water in the reservoir. Arch dams are thin and require less material to construct than other dam types.[1]
The dam was built to provide and regulate water only and not to provide energy. Construction started on the dam in 1968 and finished in 1972.[2]
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[edit] Design
The dam is 440 ft (134 m) heigh and 171.6 ft (52.3 m) wide at the foundation. The reservoir capacity is 344,000 acre-ft. It is a double curvature concrete arch buttress design.[2]
[edit] Problems
Monitoring of the dam revealed abnormal movement. Although dams normally move, the left side of the El Atazar Dam was moving more than the right. In 1977 a crack was noticed in the dam and by 1979 the crack had grown to 150 feet and was repaired. Inspection in1983 revealed that settling in the foundations and the movements of the dam had caused fracturing in the rock resulting in significantly increasing the foundation's permeability significantly. This has been treated and the problems have abated.[3]
1990 and 1992 inspections by underwater divers revealed treatment was needed again, including the sealing of the upstream suction points and regrouting with a fluid resin.[4]
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[edit] Notes
- ^ Dam basics. PBS. Retrieved on December 31, 2006.
- ^ a b El Atazar Background. Retrieved on December 31, 2006.
- ^ El Atazar Problem. Retrieved on December 31, 2006.
- ^ El Atazar - Aging of other components. Retrieved on December 31, 2006.
