Dam Raising Lessons Learned From Spain

Australia faces the dual challenges of droughts and floods, requiring safe and cost-effective water infrastructure solutions for a secure water future. Among these, the rehabilitation and upgrade of existing dams can play a crucial role in ensuring water resource sustainability, addressing evolving hydraulic conditions, and maintaining high safety standards.

One efficient approach to upgrading existing infrastructure is dam raising, an option gaining renewed attention in Australia. In parallel, Spain is a country with a long tradition in dam engineering which offers valuable lessons and practices that could be used within the Australian context.

The Spanish Inventory of Large Dams includes 1,225 structures, some dating back to the 1st century AD. These include the Cornalbo, Proserpina, and Almonacid de la Cuba dams. Over centuries, Spanish engineers have pioneered remarkable advancements, from the Almansa Arch Gravity Dam in 1584 to contemporary innovations. This expertise was shared globally, influencing dam construction in regions like Mexico, Texas, and California.

Reservoirs have traditionally been a driving force in the Spanish economy, generating great benefits in key sectors by means of irrigation and hydropower, as well as providing the necessary water supply for urban areas and flood management.

As in other parts of the world, climate change is shifting the frequency of extreme weather conditions in Spain and putting pressure on water supply/management matters including dam owners and operations. Reasons for raising an existing dam include increasing storage capacity, inadequate spillway capacity in the existing dam-reservoir system, as well as inadequate stability with old dams designed to previous safety and technical standards, due to deterioration of dam materials or unfavourable foundation conditions that were not properly identified during the design stage.

I am sharing below some remarkable examples of dam raising projects where I have had the privilege and honor to contribute during my professional career. These experiences have been invaluable, providing opportunities to learn lessons in dam engineering while collaborating with exceptional colleagues and building lifelong friendships.

Some of the technical approaches used for dam raising in Spain go back to the 18th century, when Valdeinfierno dam, originally built between 1785 and 1800, was first raised between 1892 and 1897 using a new wall built on the existing crest. This dam underwent a second raise in 1965 by means of an upstream wall.

Other remarkable examples of dam raises in Spain include the following:

• Raised crests with new gravity walls at concrete gravity dams, such as Barasona Dam, Camarillas Dam or Beniarrés Dam.
• Raised crests with anchored walls at concrete gravity dams, such as La Cierva Dam and El Sancho Dam.?

• Raised crests with new spillway gates and piers at existing gravity dams, such as El Agueda Dam.
• Upstream raises at concrete gravity dams, such as Mediano Dam, Alsa Dam, and Doiras Dam.
• Downstream raises with a new concrete faced rockfill dam that uses the old concrete gravity dam as a plinth, such as Yesa Dam.

• Construction of a completely new dam downstream of the old dam, such as Montoro Dam and Bre?a II Dam.

• Construction of a new upstream dam in the reservoir area of the old dam, such as Puente de Santolea Dam, and Puentes IV Dam.

• Construction of a new central core embankment dam that is built over the old failed composite dam (concrete gravity and embankment dam), such as Tous Dam.?

If you’d like to chat more about the Spanish practice for dams, please reach out so we can catch up.

To learn more about dam wall raising, including best practices and lessons learned from successful examples around the world, you can download GHD’s That’s Dam Challenging guide here:

?https://info.ghd.com/l/995222/2024-12-05/61nxv

Earlier this 2024, GHD brought together dam owner-operators from across Australia to learn from and delve into discussions with international insights from GHD , Black & Veatch , Damwatch Engineering Ltd and Gruner Stucky Ltd . The guide summarises the learnings from this event, diving into the critical considerations for raising an existing dam, often while keeping the dam operational.

A big hand and massive thanks to my co-presenters and dear colleagues at the “That’s Dam Challenging” Peter Amos , Tracey Williamson , Emily Schwartz, PE , Martin Peter Bieri , David Cameron-Ellis , Andrew Reynolds , Colleen Baker , #PeterBuchanan, and Andrew Barclay .

Thanks also to our amazing team who made that event happen:

Erica Pezzutti , Meg Sheehan , Emilley Kingsman , Stevie Joan Pitcher , Ben Hanslow , Nicholas Glover , Richard Evans , and Lindsey Brown

Also thanks to

SPANCOLD - Comité Nacional Espa?ol de Grandes Presas

SEPREM - Sociedad Espa?ola de Presas y Embalses

ANCOLD The Australian National Committee on Large Dams Inc.

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