Less than 40cm from the maximum elevation, Alqueva Dam tests “discharge organs”

The Alqueva Dam is less than 40cm away from reaching its maximum elevation – 152 meters.

Aware of this situation, which may lead to discharges, according to information provided today by EDIA – Alqueva Development and Infrastructure Company, responsible for managing the dam, a check was carried out on the operational conditions of the discharge organs of a dam is mandatory to guarantee the effectiveness of its system and the safety of the structure and populations.

According to Edia, “this week one of the surface spillways and a deep spillway of the Alqueva dam were tested, both on the left bank, with the components checked and the functioning of the gates.”

This operation, explains the released note, carried out at a time when the Alqueva dam is almost at its maximum level, “was an opportunity for the development of tests in those security bodies. The maneuvers showed that the Alqueva discharge organs are in perfect working order and can guarantee the structural safety of the dam in the event of a flood.”

The company also highlights that “all the water used to carry out this operation was retained in the Pedrógão reservoir, whose dam is located 23 km downstream, having already been pumped and returned to the Alqueva reservoir.”

These tests are carried out annually, within the scope of regulatory inspection by APA – Portuguese Environment Agency, the National Dam Safety Authority, and allow identifying and correcting any problems that could cause failures in the system, thus guaranteeing full operability.

It is worth remembering that the Alqueva reservoir filled for the first time on January 12, 2010 and in March of the same year, the situation repeated itself again. The floodgates of the largest artificial lake in Europe were closed on February 8, 2002, when the filling of the Albufeira began.

Alqueva is the largest artificial lake in Europe and has a floodable area of ​​250 square kilometers and around 1100 kilometers of banks. The floodgates were closed on February 8, 2002, and the process of filling the reservoir began.

Photo: EDIA