Construction of Turkey's highest dam

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Several major hydropower projects are currently underway in Turkey, including the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant on the Chorokh River, in the Black Sea province of Artvin.

Currently, the construction of the hydropower plant is 95% complete. Unfortunately, upon completion of the works, the town of Yusufeli, located 8 km away from the dam, will have to go into the water.

I must say that people have been building structures to stop the flow of water, which is then used in agriculture since ancient times. However, the dams built earlier differ from modern structures in their more modest size. Today's structures are truly marvels of engineering and technology, including large cement walls with sluices and gates that are built across rivers. Moreover, the higher the dam, the greater its reserve capacity.

As for the Yusufeli Dam, it will be 270 meters high and will be the highest dam in Turkey and the seventh highest dam in the world. It is of the concrete-arched type. Construction of the dam was launched on December 21, 2012.

Yusufeli Dam will be the second highest dam within the larger Çoruh River Development Plan, which plans to build 13 dams, of which two are in operation and two more are under construction.

The main purpose of the dam is to produce hydroelectric power, and it will support a 540-Megawatt power plant. The dam is controversial because of its projected impact on biodiversity within its reservoir, along with the relocation of local residents.

When it comes to hydroelectric power - it will produce 1.888 billion kilowatts per hour with a combined capacity of 558 megawatts. By the way, this will be enough to meet the needs of 650 thousand people.

The dam is reportedly scheduled for commissioning in July 2021.

The new dam and hydroelectric power plant built in the northeastern Turkish province of Artvin will add more than $221 million to the economy annually. The dam was built entirely by Turkish engineers.

Located 70 southwest of Artvin , Yusufeli will be a double-curved arch dam with a height of 270 meters from the base and 223 meters from the river valley (the lowest point of the river. It will have a crest length of 490 m and a crest width of 15 m, and it will consist of 4 million cubic meters of concrete, (for comparison, the same amount is needed to build 50,000 houses).

The crest of the dam will be 715 m above sea level, while the normal operating level of its reservoir will be 710 m , the maximum is 712 m , and the minimum is 670 m . The reservoir area is 33 km square and will have a total storage capacity of 2 billion cubic meters, the operating or "useful" storage capacity of 1 billion cubic meters. The dam spillway will be a spillway chute with a maximum capacity of 8,000 cubic meters.

The dam will have an underground powerhouse 110m long, 21.4m wide and 45.2m high. Inside the power plant there will be three 180 MW vertical shaft Francis turbines.

In the design of the dam, in which 6,500 cubic meters of concrete is poured by 3 air lines per day , water will begin to be stored , and power production will begin in the middle of this year . Work on the completion of the dam continues apace. A special system has been installed on the construction site for the giant construction equipment . Using a cable crane system installed from slope to slope, tons of construction equipment is transported through the air.

When the Yusufeli Dam, scheduled to be completed in the fourth month of 2021, begins operation, it will produce 560 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year with an installed capacity of 1.9 megawatts. This production figure means meeting the annual energy needs of a large city like Antalya. With the commissioning of the Yusufel Dam and hydroelectric power plant, the country's hydroelectric production capacity will increase by 2 percent.

The dam, which can be described as an "engineering marvel," will be inherited in the future as a giant work that shows what the Turkish people can do when they believe. Not only the dam, but also 110 kilometers of roads, 45 tunnels, 22 bridges and 92 culverts were built as part of the project.

The project is expected to bring $83.5mn to the country's economy annually and pay for itself within 7 years.

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