Dams, whose main function is to collect water from mountains, rivers and lakes in reservoirs, are not simple structures at all.
When you look carefully, you can see that the dams show differences. So why are the dams different in shape, why are some dams built obliquely?
These huge walls, which accumulate large amounts of water behind them, owe their functionality largely to their shape.
When constructing the dam, the engineers’ priority is whether the dam is strong enough. Because the force created by the accumulated water in the dams can spread to the entire dam if it is built obliquely, and thus overloading the force at a single point can be prevented. In this way, cracks do not occur and the dam does not break.
As a matter of fact, the lack of careful determination of the preferred ground and the cracking of the dam can cause floods and even earthquakes in nearby settlements.
However, the force exerted by the water accumulating in the reservoir is not the only factor that affects the oblique shape of the shape.
Inclined construction of dams is a solution method that is generally used when the ground on which they will be built is not strong enough.
The reason why the stability of the ground is so important is that the dam will have a very large mass when construction is completed. If the ground is not solid, the dam can be eroded by water from below or be damaged after earthquakes.
To better explain the situation, let’s compare two famous and differently built dams. The first of our examples is the “Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam”, one of the largest dams in Africa.
Built by Ethiopia, this 145-metre-high and 1780-metre-long dam has become popular recently, as it blocks most of the water flowing into the Nile River and thus into Egypt.
This dam, which has the potential to meet all of Ethiopia’s electricity needs, was built with great care and attention, despite the political problems with Egypt.
The dam is built where the ground can support the weight of the dam and the soil can hold the ends of the dam well enough. The front of its walls lean forward to balance the force exerted by the water.
Our next example is the “Kariba Dam” located on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border.
With a height of 128 meters and a width of 580 meters, Kariba Dam is also the oldest dam in Africa.
The dam was built without a slope compared to the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. This meant that the water in the reservoir would exert too much force on the dam, so the engineers had to build another wall behind the wall and connect the two. Therefore, the state spent more on a problem that it could easily solve by making it inclined.
The strength of the dam is as important as the strength of the ground and the hills on which the ends of the dam will be located.
Dams are structures that can be easily damaged and harm their environment unless they are built carefully. Therefore, it is always necessary to take maximum precautions in their construction.
More than 7,000 cracks were discovered in 2018 in the “Coca Codo Sinclair Dam”, built near a volcano by a Chinese company in Ecuador. As a matter of fact, during the construction of the dam, neither the inclination of the wall nor the strength of the ground nor the strength of the dam itself was taken into consideration.
Although the Ecuadorian government decided to sue the company, it was too late because the damage was too much and it would be very difficult to repair. It is predicted that the dam could one day be destroyed by a moderate earthquake or volcanic eruption.
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