A VIST TO SVRACKOVO DAM CONSTRUCTION SITE – THE CONTINUITY OF PROFESSIONAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE EMPLOYEES OF HIDROINZENJERING
Piva hydropower plant, Durutovici dam, Vinca landfill and Gazivode dam are only someof the sites that were the destinations of professional excursions where the employees of Hidroinzenjering acquired much needed experience. The pandemic of Covid-19 virus briefly interrupted this form of professional improvement until the May of 2022 when the teamof structural engineers and technicians of Hidroinzenjering visited the construction site of Arilje dam at Svrackovo section located at Veliki Rzav River approx. 7 km to the west fromthe southernmost area of the town of Arilje. The organization of professional excursion arose from the desire to provide to young engineers and technicians high-quality practical knowledge that would be acquired on construction site, in direct contact with hydrotechnical structures.
Arilje dam and reservoir represent key structures of regional water supply system “Rzav” which will provide potable water to five municipalities: Arilje, Pozega, Lucani, Cacak and Gornji Milanovac. Arilje dam is an embankment dam with shaft and side-channel spillway with total height of 68 m, and it will form a reservoir with water volume of 27 million m3. The works on construction of the dam commenced in 2012. Due to occurrence of landslide activated in 2015 and its complex rehabilitation under severe geological conditions, river diversion, grouting and commencement of filling of the dam are expected to take place only next year. However, the rehabilitated landslide on the left side downstream from the dam representsan excellent opportunity for young professionals to acquaint themselves better with geotechnical structures.
Hidroinzenjering’s team had a chance to visit all the structures executed so far within the future dam complex. Four tunnels were bored in the left side of the dam, the most imposing of which is diversion tunnel with diameter of 8.50 m and length of 254 m. This tunnel will later be transformed into a discharge tunnel of shaft spillway. The team had a unique opportunity to inspect the interior of the tunnel and joint with the vertical part of the shaft, hydraulically shaped entrance into the tunnel, as well as the final phase of concreting of the glory hole of the shaft spillway.
Concrete works on construction of the water supply tower with 3 selective water intakes have been completed and a steel bridge connecting the tower with the left side has been erected.
Due to altered hydrology after the floods in 2014, Hidroinzenjering had been engaged in preparation on design documentation for Arilje dam, for additional evacuation branch of the dam. Concept design with three spillway options had been preparedand the option with side-channel spillway on the right side was adopted as the most cost-efficient one. The execution of additional investigation in the area of interest for the purpose of preparation of Concept Design of side-channel spillway is currently in its final phase.
The practice of Hidoizenjering is to bring closer to the engineers and techniciansthe structures they work on every day through site visits. The visits of this type enable better visualisation of hydrotechnical structures and proved to be an excellent way to improve the quality of the projects. The educational, professional part cannot go without no less important, informal part of socialisation and the smiling faces that contributed to the positive atmosphere during the entire trip – which is another one of the qualities that EP Hidroinzenjering is proud of.
