What is a particular dam?
The concrete dam is a structure designed and built to detention of water, which is usually placed across the path of the river. The dams are built for various reasons, including flood control, energy production and water management. The concrete dam is the strongest type of dam built in modern times and can take several forms. The concrete itself is a building material made of water, cement, sand and gravel or aggregate.
In modern times, almost every dam is made partially or completely from concrete. Concrete is an excellent material for the construction of dams because it is very strong when it is under compression - pressing down or pushed together. Many designs for concrete dams use this property to produce extremely large dams that are able to retain many cubic kilometers (1 cu. Mile = 4.2 cu. KMS) of water.
The dams constructed from concrete have three basic designs. The arch of the arch is a curved, relatively thin curtain of concrete, with the concave side of the curve pointing the downout of the stream. This type of dam is made of solid concrete, which is reinforced with steel. It relies on the pressure of the water behind it to add strength, because this pressure pushes the side of the dam into the walls on both sides. The arc dams are particularly suitable for areas where the river flows on the bottom of steep canyons or corners with solid rock walls.
The gravitational dam is the type of dam that relies on its own mass to keep it in place and retain water. Gravitational dams are often massive structures, sometimes dozens of feet (1 foot = 0.3 meters) thick. The dam is made of concrete, but the main part of its interior is more of a fill than solid concrete. The gravitational dam is usually not curved and the cross -section will be similar to the right triangle, with a right angle at the bottom on the side facing the water and side pointing from the water inclined down down, making the dam stronger at the bottom. Gravitational dams are better for areas,where there is no fixed walls of the subsoil or canyon for anchoring.
The third main type of concrete dam is the Arch-Gravity dam, which combines the properties of the arch dam and the gravitational dam. Arch-Gravity dams are curved dams that use the arc principle to strengthen their strength, but are much stronger than a typical arch dam and have a filling core. They are designed so that their massive weight in combination with increased arc strength above the straight structure maintains the dam in place and retains water.
Some specific dams may have several small arches or buttress or a few large arches or other variations, but most, not all of these are variations on one of the three basic designs. Relatively the type of concrete for the construction of concrete dams is called concrete from a compact cylinder and uses heavy rollers to push the concrete during the structure. Many newer dams are constructions using this technique, but designs of the same basethe bottom of the types. The typical concrete dam has spillows for water release if necessary and many of them are designed to use the flow of water to produce electricity by means of hydroelectric power plants. The flowing water, which changes massive turbines, produces up to 20% of world electricity.