2024-08-01 13:26:48
As construction of the largest dam ever designed on a river in northern Patagonia came to an end more than three decades ago, the quality of the concrete had to undergo a key test: the filling of the reservoir. The management of Hidronor, the state-owned company that built all the hydroelectric power plants in Limay and Neuquén, lacks transparency and the environment (controlled information, no mobile phones or social networks) could not be better.
Here’s why this news is so dramatic: The Piedra del Aguila dam broke during filling and the river flowed through its inner corridor.
No one has officially revealed this as Hidronor has a very strict policy on the matter.
The provincial government also does not have the necessary data to reassure residents downstream of the dam.. The collapse of Piedra del Águila will push El Chocón and Arroyito like dominoes and will flood large parts of the cities of Plotier, Neuquén, Chipoletti and Rocca.
But that didn’t happen. Yes, there are cracks in the fill, but these are the expected reactions that occur when concrete comes into contact with air and Limay cold water.
perhaps Such an explanation is timelycould have saved so many error messages.
A similar situation occurred a few years ago with the “El Chocón Crack”, which was not a crack in the dam but a foundation leak in the rock. andIn this case, the damage puts experts on alert because the integrity of the work may be at risk. The multi-million dollar investment made it possible to seal the fault and provide the dam with elements that make it one of the safest in the world.
But this time, let’s return to Piedra del Aguila and its cracks. We had to wait decades before taking action because the cement had to set. Concrete is so dense that it continues to release energy for up to 20 years.
For decades, two liters of water per second (approximately 170,000 water per day) was drained from the interior of the dam until an epoxy resin formulation began to be injected to stop the leak.
The dam is 170 meters high (more than 50 stories high), 840 meters long, and has the highest installed capacity in the region (1,400 MW).
It was privatized in late 1993 and now has an extended concession, The company is owned by Argentinian business group Sadesa.
In recent years, community involvement from experts from the Dam Safety Regulatory Agency (Orsep) has declined, and there is no certainty about the technical control of the dam.
It would be so sad if we went back to an era of backward information.
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