Curiosity...
The dam on the Dora river in the Mazzè area was built in the years 1921-1922, partially rebuilt in 1928 after the serious damage caused by a particularly heavy flood occurred in 1924.
The complex structure consists of several parts that can be summarized as follows:
- the main intake building, m.77,50 long, which has 5 spans divided into other intermediate sections of 10 lights
- the unloading building, built after the accident of 1924, with equal criteria to those of the mobile crosspiece, divided into 5 spans, without any intermediate septum
- the retaining elements consist of gates of equal width, with automatic spillways as in the main building
- the building of the plant itself, includes the loading chambers of the turbines, the main hall of the machines, the hydrodynamic control room for the sluice gates, the electric accumulators, the repair shops,
the warehouses, the offices.
The constructive characteristics of the turbines allowed to exploit a net jump of 6.60 m and a maximum flow rate of 25000 l/s. The turbines are coupled with as many pumps for water irrigation, sized for a flow rate of 1200 l/s at a prevalence
of 60 m.
As an electro-irrigation experiment with water pumping at great heights, the Mazzè plant was considered one of the most important in Europe. In its construction and mechanical characteristics the result of a high technology was found and represented
a conquest of hydraulic engineering of great value. Considered among the largest and most characteristic in Europe, it became a training ground attracting many scholars and managers from important economic sectors. It was a point of reference
of great significance and, from time to time, visited not only by professors and students of polytechnics, but also by many foreigners.
In recent years, the design evolution of the reconstruction of the transom, due to administrative needs, has preferred to separate the hydroelectric plant from the irrigation pumping system. The latter is what was implemented by MISA in the 2010-2012
period.
