 |
The risk of failure of one or more of the mechanical gates at Lom Pangar dam in Cameroon could ultimately cause the failure of the structure. In order to minimize this risk, an innovative solution has been introduced with the Fusegate System.
The existing spillway consists of four 13 m wide bays, three of which are equipped with radial gates and one section acting as an emergency spillway, where two Fusegates® have been retrofitted.
The dam has been designed to pass a total discharge of 2,500 m³/s at elevation El.673.8 NGC of PHE. This has been set as the design flood for the project (corresponding to a decamillennial flood under normal conditions).
The main purpose of Fusegates® application is to guarantee, in all circumstances, a reliable discharge of the flood waters and to mitigate dam safety risks. In fact, a Fusegate tipping occurs only for reservoir levels higher than El.674.00 NGC, which corresponds to the failure of one or more mechanical gates at the spillway.
