Author(s): Alicia Siguenza; Luis De La Torre; Yolanda Perez; Carmen Baena; Jose Milla
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Abstract: The Almendra Dam is a double curvature arch dam built on the Tormes River, located in the boundary of Salamanca and Zamora provinces. With a total height above foundation of 202 m and a crest length of 567,23 m, it is currently the highest dam in Spain. During the summer of 2022, Iberdrola planned an unusual release of nearly 400 hm3 to comply with the Albufeira Convention, an agreement signed by Portugal and Spain governments to regulate the hydro-electric development of the international section of the Duero River. This action would cause the level to drop from 693 m above sea level (current level at that moment) to approximately 670 m. The operation started at the end of the month of September 2022 and finally, it was only necessary to reach the level 684 m. Due to that extraordinary situation, Iberdrola decided to develop a 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) model to anticipate the behaviour of the dam during the discharge. In order to use this finite element model to contrast the real deformations measured during the process, it was necessary to perform a calibration of the model with the values provided by the monitoring system installed on site and collected during more than 50 years of service of the dam.
Year: 2024