Ōigawa Dam

Oigawa Dam
Oigawa Dam
Official name	大井川ダム
Location	Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates	35°9′52.67″N138°8′33.56″E / 35.1646306°N 138.1426556°E Coordinates: 35°9′52.67″N138°8′33.56″E / 35.1646306°N 138.1426556°E
Construction began	1934
Opening date	1936
Operator(s)	Chubu Electric Power
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Ōi River
Height	33.5 meters
Length	65.8 meters
Reservoir
Total capacity	788,000 m3
Catchment area	537 km2
Surface area	13 hectares

Last updated March 01, 2019

The Ōigawa Dam(大井川ダム,Ōigawa damu) is a dam on the Ōi River in Haibara District, Kawanehon, Shizuoka Prefecture on the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a hydroelectric power generating station owned by the Chubu Electric Power Company.

A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, dating to 3,000 BC.

The Ōi River is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Haibara is a rural district located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

History

The potential of the Ōi River valley for hydroelectric power development was realized by the Meiji government at the start of the 20th century. The Ōi River was characterized by a high volume of flow and a fast current. Its mountainous upper reaches and tributaries were areas of steep valleys and abundant rainfall, and were sparsely populated.

In 1906, a joint venture company, the Anglo-Japanese Hydroelectric Company(日英水力電気,Nichiei Suiryoku Denki) was established, and began studies and design work on plans to exploit the potential of the Ōi River and Fuji River in Shizuoka Prefecture. The British interests were bought out by 1921. The Ōigawa Dam was the second dam to be constructed on the main stream of the Ōi River. Construction began in 1934 and was completed in 1936. Electrical production was nationalized under the aegis of the Japan Electric Generation and Transmission Company(日本発送電株式会社,Nippon Hassoden K.K.) in 1938, which was divided after World War II into regional power corporations. The Oikawa Dam is now operated and maintained by the Chubu Electric Power Company.

A Joint Venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to access a new market, particularly emerging markets; to gain scale efficiencies by combining assets and operations; to share risk for major investments or projects; or to access skills and capabilities.

The Fuji River is a river in Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures of central Japan. It is 128 kilometres (80 mi) long and has a watershed of 3,990 square kilometres (1,540 sq mi). With the Mogami River and the Kuma River, it is regarded as one of the three most rapid flows of Japan.

World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.

Design

Construction of the Ōigawa Dam was facilitated by its location on the Ōigawa Railway Ikawa Line, which was built largely to more materials and works up the Ōi River valley for dam construction. The design is a solid-core concrete gravity dam. The associated Ōigawa Hydroelectric Power Plant produces 68,200 KW of power.

Ōigawa Railway Ikawa Line railway line in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan

The Ikawa Line is a railway line of the Ōigawa Railway. It runs from Senzu Station in Kawanehon, Shizuoka, the end station of the Ōigawa Main Line, and terminates at Ikawa Station in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka. The line has 61 tunnels and 51 bridges along its 25.5 kilometer length and includes the only rack-and-pinion railway section currently operating in Japan.

Concrete, usually Portland cement concrete, is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time—most frequently a lime-based cement binder, such as Portland cement, but sometimes with other hydraulic cements, such as a calcium aluminate cement. It is distinguished from other, non-cementitious types of concrete all binding some form of aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with a bitumen binder, which is frequently used for road surfaces, and polymer concretes that use polymers as a binder.

A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by primarily using the weight of the material alone to resist the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is stable, independent of any other dam section.

Surroundings

Public access to the dam and its lake are by Shizuoka Prefectural Road 60, with bus connections to Shizuoka Station or Shin-Shizuoka Station.

Shizuoka Station is a major railway station in Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Central Japan Railway Company.

Shin-Shizuoka Station railway station in Shizuoka, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan

Shin-Shizuoka Station is a terminal train station of the Shizuoka–Shimizu Line in Aoi-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is located within the Shin-Shizuoka Cenova shopping complex.

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References

Japan Commission on Large Dams. Dams in Japan:Past, Present and Future. CRC Press (2009). ISBN 978-0-415-49432-8
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