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NORTH AMERICA
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CONSTRUCTION
River diversion, Before the dam could be built, the Colorado
river needed to be diverted away from the construction site.
To accomplish this, four diversion tunnels were driven through
the canyon walls, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona
side.
To protect the construction site from the Colorado River and to
facilitate the river's diversion, two cofferdams were constructed.
Once the cofferdams were in place and the construction site was
drained of water, excavation for the dam foundation began.
For the dam to rest on solid rock, it was necessary to remove
accumulated erosion soils and other loose materials in the
riverbed until sound bedrock was reached.
Cont
Since the dam was an arch-gravity type, the side-walls
of the canyon would bear the force of the impounded
lake, therefore the side-walls were excavated too, to
reach virgin rock as weathered rock might provide
pathways for water seepage.
The cleared, underlying rock foundation of the dam site
was reinforced with grout, called a grout curtain.
This was done to stabilize the rock, to prevent water
from seeping past the dam through the canyon rock,
and to limit "uplift"upward pressure from water
seeping under the dam.
Spillways
The dam is protected against over-topping by two spillways. The
spillway entrances are located behind each dam abutment,
running roughly parallel to the canyon walls.
The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for
testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983. During both
times, when inspecting the tunnels after the spillways were
used, engineers found major damage to the concrete linings and
underlying rock.
The 1941 damage was attributed to a slight misalignment of the
tunnel invert (or base), which caused cavitation, a phenomenon
in fast-flowing liquids in which vapor bubbles collapse with
explosive force.
In response to this finding, the tunnels were patched with
special heavy-duty concrete and the surface of the concrete was
polished mirror-smooth.
Cont
The 1983 damage, also due to cavitation, led to the
installation of aerators in the spillways.
Tests at Grand Coulee Dam showed that the technique
worked, in principle.
OPERATIONS
Hydroelectric power generation, the Hoover Dam
distributes power to the state of Nevada, the state of
Arizona and about thirteen cities in the state of
California.
Supplies water for Irrigation of over 1,000,000acres of
land.
Supplies water for domestic purposes that serves about
8 million people in Arizona, Nevada and California.
CONSTRUCTION
The moraine provided the answer to constructing one of
the largest earth filled dams of its kind. Three years of
survey and study of data climaxed in plans to build a
dam near the head of the canyon and to use the
materials of the moraine to build it.
A low coffer dam was constructed to direct the water
into the tunnels allowing the dam to be built on the dry
river bed.
Excavating to create a solid base for building was the
step that followed, and preparing the foundations and
injecting grout into the ground to create a watertight
seal.
Cont
Over the course of construction 55 million cubic yards of
rock and dirt were taken from the nearby glacial moraine by
conveyor belt to create the dam relying primarily on gravity
to hold it together.
A complicated conveyor system adjacent to the dam site
mixed the moraine according to rigid specification for
different zones of the dam.
Dump trucks carrying 100 tons of earth rattled through the
dam site.
At the same time, work was being done to construct the
power house deep within the east abutment out of the solid
rock of the canyon wall. This massive chamber would house
the hydroelectric generating facilities of the dam.
Spillway
Across the valley the spillway channel had been gouged
out of the rock to provide an escape route if the
reservoir ever threatened to overflow.
This discharge channel is lined with concrete and
extends 2,300 feet from the crest of the dam to a point
250 feet above the downstream riverbed.
When opened, it can allow 9,205 cubic meters of water
per second to be launched into Dinosaur Lake below.
OPERATIONS
The main function of Dam was the generation of
Hydroelectric power.
Gordon M. Shrum Generating Station at Bennett Dam
has the capacity to generate over 13 billion kWh
annually. The powerhouse, carved deep in bedrock
under the east shoulder of Bennett Dam, was the
largest underground powerhouse in the world when it
began generating electricity in 1968.