Six centuries of experience, new challenges: IDOM participates in the 14th Spanish Dam Conference
The adoption of the Technical Safety Standards for Dams and Reservoirs has prompted a review of existing water infrastructure in Spain, particularly those structures that have been in operation for decades and must now comply with current safety requirements.
One such dam is the Rumblar Dam in Jaén, a 68-metre-high gravity dam that has been in service since 1941. A safety review of the dam identified vulnerabilities relating to hydraulic capacity, structural stability, material condition, drainage systems and certain operational aspects.
IDOM has developed a project to improve the dam’s structure and bring it into compliance with current legislation. This includes new hydrological, geological, geotechnical and stability studies, as well as defining construction solutions to address the main vulnerabilities detected.
Among the planned measures, the most notable are the widening of the spillway and raising of the dam crest and body, the installation of new waterproofing and drainage linings, the reinforcement and modernization of the bottom outlet, improvements to monitoring systems, work on access roads and the construction of a new control building.
Due to its technical significance and its role in the debate on the obsolescence of Spain’s dam infrastructure, Christian Quirós Nebrera presented the project at the XIV Spanish Dam Conference in Granada, organized by SPANCOLD and the Guadalquivir River Basin Authority.
