The Roselend Dam is an

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

buttress dam A buttress dam or hollow dam is a dam with a solid, water-tight upstream side that is supported at intervals on the downstream side by a series of buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which ...

located east of Beaufort in the

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population o ...

department of the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in south-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is located just west and below the Cormet de Roselend mountain pass. The dam was designed by

Coyne et Bellier Coyne et Bellier is a global consulting and engineering firm based in Gennevilliers, France. They specialize in infrastructure projects such as dams, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, roads, tunnels and other below-surface facilities. The co ...

and construction began in 1955. The reservoir began to fill in 1960, the power station was operational in 1961 and the dam complete in 1962. It was constructed for the primary purpose of

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power generation and supports the 546 MW La Bâthie Power Station.

Design and operation

The dam has a maximum height of and a length of . It is wide at its crest and wide at its base. The dam has a structural volume of . Its reservoir, Lac de Roselend, can store of water and has a surface area of . Directly over the river bed is the dam's concrete arch with a radius. Flanking it on either side are concrete buttresses supporting the dam wall. Water from the dam is transferred west via a long

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is of Scots origin, and was inherited from the earlier technology of mill pond ...

to the

underground power station An underground power station is a type of hydroelectric power station constructed by excavating the major components (e.g. machine hall, penstocks, and tailrace) from rock, rather than the more common surface-based construction methods. One or mo ...

in La Bâthie. At the power station, the water feeds six 91 MW

Pelton turbine The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the t ...

-generators. The difference in elevation between the power station and reservoir affords a

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a measurement related to liquid pressure (normalized by specific weight) and the liquid elevation above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22, eq.3.2a. It is usually meas ...

(drop) of . Water from the St. Guerin Dam, to the southwest at and Gittaz Dam, to the northeast at , provide additional water to Lac de Roselend as well.

References

{{Authority control Dams in France Hydroelectric power stations in France Buttress dams Buildings and structures in Savoie Dams completed in 1962 Energy infrastructure completed in 1962 1962 establishments in France Savoie Underground power stations 20th-century architecture in France

Design and operation

See also

References