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At first glance you might mistake a bell-mouth spillway for a watery
vortex into another dimension. What can only be described as a giant
hole in the water is actually a method for controlling the release of
flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area. These spillways help
prevent floods from ‘dam’-aging or destroying a dam.
Photograph by The Cat’s Place
SPILLWAYS
- A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled
release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically
being the river that was dammed
- Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage
or even destroy the dam. Except during flood periods, water does not
normally flow over a spillway
- In contrast, an intake is a structure used to release water on a regular basis for water supply, hydroelectricity generation, etc.
- Floodgates and fuse plugs may be designed into spillways to regulate water flow and dam height
- Other uses of the term “spillway” include bypasses of dams or outlets
of a channels used during highwater, and outlet channels carved through
natural dams such as moraines
Source: Wikipedia
Photograph by Jon Bradbury
Photograph by Traqopodaros
BELL-MOUTH SPILLWAYS
- Some spillways are designed like an inverted bell so that water can
enter all around the perimeter. These uncontrolled spillway devices are
also called: morning glory, plughole, glory hole, or bell-mouth spillways
- In areas where the surface of the reservoir may freeze, bell-mouth
spillways are normally fitted with ice-breaking arrangements to prevent
the spillway from becoming ice-bound
Source: Wikipedia
Photograph by David Wilby
Photograph by Buster Bakewell
LADYBOWER RESEVOIR
- The images above are from the spillways located at the Ladybower Resevoir
- The Ladybower Reservoir is a large Y-shaped reservoir, the lowest of three in the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, England
- The River Ashop flows into the reservoir from the west; the River
Derwent flows south, initially through Howden Reservoir, then Derwent
Reservoir, and finally through Ladybower Reservoir
- Its longest dimension is just over 3 miles (5km), and at the time of
construction it was the largest reservoir in Britain (1943)
Source: Wikipedia
Photograph by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Photograph by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
MONTICELLO DAM
- The Monticello Dam is a dam in Napa County, California, United States constructed between 1953 and 1957
- It is a medium concrete-arch dam with a structural height of 304 ft (93 m) and a crest length of 1,023 ft (312 m)
- It contains 326,000 cubic yards (249,000 m³) of concrete. The dam
impounded Putah Creek to cover the former town of Monticello and flood
Berryessa Valley to create Lake Berryessa, the second-largest lake in
California
- The capacity of the reservoir is 1,602,000 acre•ft (1,976,000 dam³).
Water from the reservoir is supplied mostly to the North Bay area of San
Francisco
- The dam is noted for its classic, uncontrolled spillway with a rate of
48,400 cubic feet per second (1370 m³/s) and a diameter at the lip of
72 ft (22 m).
Source: Wikipedia
Photograph by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Photograph by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
SOURCES
- Wikipedia: Spillways
- Wikipedia: Ladybower Resevoir
- Wikipedia: Monticello Dam
Photograph by Keartona
Photograph by Ian Stuart Armstrong
Photograph by Spider Bob
Photograph by Carl McCabe
Photograph by ChezyNickAnnie
Photograph by Wedesoft
Photograph by Martin Roberts
Photograph by Preseverando
Source: http://twistedsifter.com/2010/05/giant-hole-in-water-bell-mout-spillways/
