Kurobe Dam
Template:More citations neededTemplate:Infobox dam
The Template:Nihongo, or Template:Nihongo, is a Template:Convert high variable-radius arch dam on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. The tallest dam in Japan,<ref name="IEEE"/> it supports the 335 MW Kurobe No. 4 Hydropower Plant and is owned by Kansai Electric Power Company. It was constructed between 1956 and 1963 at a cost of 51.3 billion yen. The project had taken the lives of 171 people by its completion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
In 1951, the Kansai Electric Power Company was formed to provide electric power for the Kansai region of Japan. Shortly after their formation, the area suffered from drought, which caused power rationing. The drought, along with the rapid growth of post–World War II Japan, pushed the company to increase their generating capacity. After a series of geological and hydrological studies of the Kurobe River and Gorge, it was announced in late 1955 that the Kurobe Dam would be constructed.<ref name="IEEE">Template:Cite web</ref>
In July 1956, construction on the dam began.<ref name="IEEE"/> Problems quickly arose while transporting material to the construction site as only one small railway existed through the narrow gorge.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Kansai decided to construct the Template:Convert Kanden Tunnel under Mount Akazawa that could efficiently bring supplies from Ōmachi eastward towards the construction site. The tunnel's construction proved an arduous task, as a large fracture zone in the rock was encountered, which took seven months to repair. In September 1959, the first concrete for the dam was placed and by October next year, the reservoir had begun to fill.<ref name="IEEE"/>
The Kurobe No. 4 power station was built completely underground to protect it from the avalanches common in the gorge and also for nature-conservation purposes. By January 1961, two of Kurobe No. 4's Pelton turbines had begun operation at an initial capacity of 154 MW. In August 1962, the third turbine was in operation, and by June 1963, the dam was complete at a final cost of ¥ 51.3 billion ($142.5 million (1963)). In 1973, a fourth turbine was installed and became operational, bringing the power station's production capacity to 335 MW. The fourth turbine cost ¥ 1.4 billion yen ($5 million (1973)). The first two turbines were manufactured by Voith and the last two by Japan's Hitachi. The dam initiated the development of Japan's first 275kV transmission system as well, which allowed the transfer of electricity over greater distances.<ref name="IEEE"/>
Specifications
The Kurobe Dam is a Template:Convert long, Template:Convert high, variable-radius (dome) arch dam. The dam is Template:Convert wide at its base, Template:Convert wide at its crest, and contains Template:Convert of concrete. The dam is flanked and supported by two "wing" dams which form the abutments; the one on the left bank is Template:Convert long and the right is Template:Convert. The dam withholds a reservoir with a capacity of Template:Convert of which Template:Convert is live (active or "useful") storage. The reservoir also has a catchment area of Template:Convert and surface area of Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The dam's spillway is on its crest and contains 10 Template:Convert wide uncontrolled openings with a maximum discharge capacity of Template:Convert. Three other openings exist in the dam's orifice, which consist of Template:Convert diameter pipes, two of which can discharge a maximum of Template:Convert each and the third Template:Convert. The dam's crest elevation is Template:Convert above sea level, while the reservoir's normal operating level is Template:Convert and low level is considered Template:Convert.<ref name="specs">Template:Cite web</ref>
The dam's power station, Kurobe No. 4, is located underground and contains four generators which are powered by Pelton turbines for a total installed capacity of 335 MW and average annual generation of 1 billion kWh.<ref name="IEEE"/><ref name="QA">Template:Cite web</ref> The power station is Template:Convert wide, Template:Convert high, and Template:Convert long. The penstock serving water to the power station is Template:Convert long and utilizes a maximum effective hydraulic head of Template:Convert while transferring a maximum of Template:Convert to the turbines. The plant's surge chamber is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert high.<ref name="specs"/>
Access
The Kurobe Dam is the most popular hydropower site in Japan<ref name="IEEE"/> and, between late June and mid-October, water is released from its spillway for onlookers. The surrounding Kurobe Gorge is popular as well and is accessible by the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route.
Starting from Toyama Station, visitors can take a combination of trains, cable cars, buses, and walking to access the dam. The whole trip from Toyama Station takes roughly four hours to complete one-way, and costs around 10,000 yen ($66.68 USD) in transportation fees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Various accommodations are available in Murodo area as well as near Tateyama Station, for those too tired to make the trip back down into Toyama City.
In popular culture
The novel The Sun of Kurobe (黒部の太陽; Kurobe no Taiyō) dramatizes the construction of the dam. It was adapted into the 1968 film The Sands of Kurobe, which focuses on the perils that the construction of the dam and Kanden Tunnel entailed and other circumstances that took a high toll on human life.<ref name="IEEE"/><ref name="QA"/>
The television series Project X: Chôsensha tachi (2000–2005) was also based on the dam's construction.<ref name="IEEE"/>
The final arc of the 2004 Tetsujin 28-go anime, which takes place in a fictionalized 1950s Japan, heavily involves the construction of the Kurobe Dam.
The 1961 kaiju film Mothra includes an action sequence filmed at the dam before its completion. Mothra's attack causes the dam to break.
Kurobe dam can be seen in the 1964 film Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.
Kurobe Dam features prominently in the opening scene of the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon, in which Gamera attacks the facility's hydroelectric plant to obtain energy in the form of fire. The dam itself then bursts after Gamera collides with it twice while flying away.
The 2000 action thriller Whiteout was shot in and around Kurobe Dam, renamed Okutowa Dam in the film.
The mecha anime television series Kuromukuro (2016) is mainly set in a UN research facility located around the lake.
See also
References
External links
Template:Dams in Toyama Prefecture Template:Authority control