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Concept
Diversion dam
Summary
A diversion dam is a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir; instead, the water is diverted into an artificial water course or canal, which may be used for irrigation or return to the river after passing through hydroelectric generators, flow into a different river or be itself dammed forming an onground or groundwater reservoir or a storm drain.
An early diversion dam is the Ancient Egyptian Sadd el-Kafara Dam at Wadi Al-Garawi, which was located about twenty five kilometres south of Cairo. Built around 2600 BC for flood control, the structure was 102 metres long at its base and 87 metres wide. It was destroyed by a flood while it was still under construction.
Diversion dams are one of three classifications of dams which include: storage dams, detention dams, and diversion dams. Storage dams are used to store water for extended lengths of time. The stored water then can be used for irrigation, livestock, municipal water supply, recreation, and hydroelectric power generation. Detention dams are built to catch surface runoff to prevent floods and trap sediment by regulating the flow rate of the runoff into channels downstream. Diversion dams are used to raise the water level in order to redirect the water to the designated location. The diverted water can be used for supplying irrigation systems or reservoirs.
Diversion dams are installed to raise the water level of a body of water to allow the water to be redirected. The redirected water can be used to supply irrigation systems, reservoirs, or hydroelectric power generation facilities. The water diverted by the diversion dam to the reservoirs can be used for industrial applications or for municipal water supply.
The design a diversion dam will fall into one of four basic types: embankment style dams, buttress style dams, arch style dams, and gravity style dams.
Embankment dam
Embankment style diversion dams are constructed to counteract the force of the water pushing on the dam by building a dam with enough weight to withstand the force.
Official source
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