Chicoasén Dam

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Chicoasén Dam

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The Chicoasén Dam, view from the reservoir.
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Location of Chicoasén Dam in Mexico
Official name Presa Manuel Moreno Torres
Country Mexico
Location Chicoasén, Chiapas
Coordinates 16°56′30″N93°06′02″W / 16.94167°N 93.10056°W / 16.94167; -93.10056 Coordinates: 16°56′30″N93°06′02″W / 16.94167°N 93.10056°W / 16.94167; -93.10056
Status In use
Construction began 1974
Opening date 1980
Owner(s) Comisión Federal de Electricidad
Dam and spillways
Impounds Grijalva River
Height 261 m (856 ft)
Length 485 m (1,591 ft)
Reservoir
Creates Chicoasén Reservoir
Total capacity 1,613,000,000 m3 (1,307,680 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area 52,600 km2 (20,309 sq mi)
Power Station
Commission date 1980-2005
Turbines 5 x 300 MW, 3 x 310 MW Francis turbines
Installed capacity 2,430 MW

The Chicoasén Dam (officially known as Manuel Moreno Torres ) is an embankment dam and hydroelectric power station on the Grijalva River near Chicoasén in Chiapas, Mexico. The dam's power plant, officially named for Manuel Moreno Torres, contains 5 x 300 MW, 3 x 310 MW Francis turbine-generators. Torres was Comisión Federal de Electricidad's (the dam's owner) Director General in the later 1950s. The original generators were first operational in 1980 while the 310 MW units were ordered in 2000 and operational by 2005. Since then, the hydroelectric power station is the largest in Mexico. [1] The dam was designed in the early 1970s and constructed between 1974 and 1980 under topographical and geological constraints. It is an earth and rock fill embankment type with a height of 261 m (856 ft) and length of 485 m (1,591 ft). [2] It withholds a reservoir of 1,613,000,000 m3 (1,307,680 acre⋅ft) and lies at the head of a 52,600 km2 (20,309 sq mi) catchment area. [3] It is the tallest dam in North America.

Embankment dam large artificial dam

An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay, or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and a dense, impervious core. This makes such a dam impervious to surface or seepage erosion. Such a dam is composed of fragmented independent material particles. The friction and interaction of particles binds the particles together into a stable mass rather than by the use of a cementing substance.

Grijalva River river in Mexico

Grijalva River, formerly known as Tabasco River. is a 480 km (300 mi) long river in southeastern Mexico. It is named after Juan de Grijalva who visited the area in 1518. The river rises in Chiapas highlands and flows from Chiapas to the state of Tabasco through the Sumidero Canyon into the Bay of Campeche. The river's drainage basin is 134,400 km2 (51,900 sq mi) in size. Because of the close connection to the Usumacinta River, they are often regarded as a single river basin, the Grijalva-Usumacinta River.

Chicoasén Municipality in Chiapas, Mexico

Chicoasén is a town and one of the 119 municipalities of Chiapas, located in southern Mexico. It covers an area of 82 km².

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References

  1. "Hydroelectric Power Plants in Mexico". Industcards. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  2. "Chicoasén Dam in Mexico". Chinese National Committee on Large Dams. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  3. A. A. Borovoi, I. S. Moiseev (1976). "Construction of the Chicoasen dam". Mexico. Retrieved 26 January 2011.