Vidraru dam
The Vidraru Dam rises like a huge concrete colossus between the rocks that delimit the entrance of the river to the Argeșului Gorge, with the Carpathians watching over on either side. On the slope of one of these rocks is the Vidraru mountain (Frunți massif), while on the other slope is the Pleașa mountain (Ghițu massif).
With a height of 165 meters and contouring the shape of a circular arc, the dam withstands the pressure from the 465 million cubic meters of water accumulated in the lake behind it. In the year of its construction, 1966, the Vidraru Dam occupied the fifth position in the world.
The materials used for this concrete colossus, worth 500,000 cubic meters, would have been enough to build a road connecting the distance between Argeș and Bicaz.
The Vidraru Reservoir covers an area of 8.25 km² and stretches for a length of 14 km, located at an altitude of 850 meters. The water accumulated in Vidraru comes from the Argeș River and other neighboring watercourses, collected through a labyrinth of secondary adductions (a network of 28 km of galleries). The underground adduction, which gathers the waters of the Doamnei, Cernat, Dobroneagu and Vâlsan rivers, is the longest in the country. Contributions come from the Topologul river from the west, and from the south, the Limpedea and Valea lui Stan rivers.
The total flow captured is 19.7 cubic meters per second, with Argeșul contributing 7.5 cubic meters per second, and the rest being provided by the waters taken from the neighboring basins. An interesting observation is that in one of the bays of Lake Vidraru there is the Cumpăna hydroelectric plant, with an installed power of 5 MW.
The turbines of the hydropower plant are supplied with water through a one-kilometer-long forced pipeline, which transports the accumulated waters behind the dam on the Cumpăna stream valley, having a height of 33 meters. This hydroelectric plant is the only one in the country that was chosen for such a location (island in the reservoir).
The appreciable water reservoirs on Argeș have facilitated the irrigation of over 100,000 hectares of agricultural land, the recovery of 10,000 hectares of land prone to flooding, as well as the supply of drinking and industrial water for Bucharest, etc.
The contour route, with a length of approximately 52 kilometers, runs through forested land and runs at a considerable altitude from the water level of the reservoir. The frequent windings of the road make it easier to overcome the level differences encountered along the way and offer scenic views.
Vidraru dam
The Vidraru Dam rises like a huge concrete colossus between the rocks that delimit the entrance of the river to the Argeșului Gorge, with the Carpathians watching over on either side. On the slope of one of these rocks is the Vidraru mountain (Frunți massif), while on the other slope is the Pleașa mountain (Ghițu massif).
With a height of 165 meters and contouring the shape of a circular arc, the dam withstands the pressure from the 465 million cubic meters of water accumulated in the lake behind it. In the year of its construction, 1966, the Vidraru Dam occupied the fifth position in the world.
The materials used for this concrete colossus, worth 500,000 cubic meters, would have been enough to build a road connecting the distance between Argeș and Bicaz.
The Vidraru Reservoir covers an area of 8.25 km² and stretches for a length of 14 km, located at an altitude of 850 meters. The water accumulated in Vidraru comes from the Argeș River and other neighboring watercourses, collected through a labyrinth of secondary adductions (a network of 28 km of galleries). The underground adduction, which gathers the waters of the Doamnei, Cernat, Dobroneagu and Vâlsan rivers, is the longest in the country. Contributions come from the Topologul river from the west, and from the south, the Limpedea and Valea lui Stan rivers.
The total flow captured is 19.7 cubic meters per second, with Argeșul contributing 7.5 cubic meters per second, and the rest being provided by the waters taken from the neighboring basins. An interesting observation is that in one of the bays of Lake Vidraru there is the Cumpăna hydroelectric plant, with an installed power of 5 MW.
The turbines of the hydropower plant are supplied with water through a one-kilometer-long forced pipeline, which transports the accumulated waters behind the dam on the Cumpăna stream valley, having a height of 33 meters. This hydroelectric plant is the only one in the country that was chosen for such a location (island in the reservoir).
The appreciable water reservoirs on Argeș have facilitated the irrigation of over 100,000 hectares of agricultural land, the recovery of 10,000 hectares of land prone to flooding, as well as the supply of drinking and industrial water for Bucharest, etc.
The contour route, with a length of approximately 52 kilometers, runs through forested land and runs at a considerable altitude from the water level of the reservoir. The frequent windings of the road make it easier to overcome the level differences encountered along the way and offer scenic views.
This remarkable achievement of Romanian technique is located downstream of the dam and includes, apart from the administrative building, both the surface constructions and the underground facilities.
In the front part rises the balance castle, having a height of 140 meters and a diameter of 7.10 meters. It receives the waters of the reservoir, guided to the castle through a 2200-meter-long adduction gallery with a diameter of 5.15 meters.
The balance castle structure extends into the depths of the earth through a forced shaft of 183 meters and a diameter of 4.10 meters. At the base of this vertical shaft is a metal distributor that feeds the four turbines of the underground hydroelectric plant. These turbines have an installed capacity of 220,000 KW and produce 400 million Kwh annually.
The underground plant consists of two extensive compartments: the turbine hall (with a length of 75 meters and a height of 34 meters) and the transformer house (with a length of 35 meters and a height of 19 meters); both are 16 meters wide. These constructions are placed underground, at a depth of 104 meters, at Cetătuia point. The main access to the plant is through a vertical shaft (with a depth of 104 meters and a diameter of 7 meters), followed by a horizontal tunnel 115 meters long, with a rectangular section of 5.0 x 6.5 meters. A second access to the plant is through a sloping gallery, with a length of 156 meters. This tunnel also serves as a passage for the cables that carry the electricity produced by the underground power plant's hydro units. Access to the depths is achieved with the help of an elevator and a staircase with 614 steps, which lead to the turbine hall.
Source: Bucharest-Sibiu (Ministry of Tourism, 1977)
