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Udawalawe Dam reservoir engineering: Walawe Ganga irrigation sluices and hydroelectric turbines?

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C
Chaminda Spillway•900 rep

How does the 4-kilometer composite earthen and concrete dam at Udawalawe regulate downstream agricultural discharge while generating 6 MW of hydroelectricity?

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Completed in 1969 across the Walawe Ganga river, the Udawalawe Dam is a massive multi-purpose water infrastructure project. The dam consists of a 3.9km compacted earthen embankment with a central 180-meter concrete gravity spillway structure featuring five radial tainter gates. The reservoir stores 268 million cubic meters of water. Water discharged for downstream agriculture passes through two Kaplan hydraulic turbine generators generating 6 megawatts of clean grid electricity before flowing into the Left Bank and Right Bank main irrigation canals, which supply over 30,000 hectares of paddy and sugarcane cultivations in Hambantota.

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D
Dr Bandara DWC•1890 rep

The concrete spillway gates discharge up to 9,900 cubic meters of water per second during extreme monsoonal flood surges from the upper Balangoda catchment.

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C
Chaminda Spillway•900 rep

The creation of the reservoir displaced resident elephant herds, prompting the establishment of Udawalawe National Park in 1972 to safeguard wildlife corridors.

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D
Dr Malaka ETH•1940 rep

The highway runs directly across the crest of the dam bund, offering panoramic vistas across the open reservoir toward the distant mountain peaks.

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S
Sarah Field Scout•1720 rep

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