Aposelemis Dam ( el, Φράγμα Αποσελέμη) is an earthen

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface an ...

on the Aposelemis River near the villages of Potamies and Avdou, southeast of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The dam is the largest water management project in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

. It creates Aposelemis lake, a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

that serves as the primary fresh water supply for the cities of

and Agios Nikolaos plus 6 smaller municipalities and 19 communities along the touristically developed north coast of Crete with a combined population of 300,000 inhabitants.

History

The first thoughts to build a dam for providing water from Aposelemis date back to the 1970s. During the 1980s and 90s several preparatory studies were completed and the definitive construction study was approved in 2000. Despite strong opposition by the local communities in the early 2000s, the overwhelming need for water during the summer prevailed. The construction contract was put out to tender on 14/12/2004 and was awarded on 1/4/2005. Dam construction was completed in 2012 and accompanying works in early 2019. Total costs, including compensations for expropriation, exceeded 220 million euros. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Den ...

of Sfendyli ( el, Σφεντύλι) was located inside the dam reservoir and below the filling level, therefore it had to be abandoned. During the dry years that followed the dam completion, Sfendyli sunk and re-emerged several times, becoming a local attraction.

Construction details

The Aposelemis dam is of rock-fill type with an impervious clay core. It is tall, long and is built on a phyllitic bedrock. The

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...

is 231 m long with a maximum capacity of 1000 m3/sec. The reservoir has a normal volume of approx. with a usable capacity of . In addition to the Aposelemis river, the reservoir is supplied with water diverted from

Lasithi Plateau The Lasithi Plateau ( el, Οροπέδιο Λασιθίου, ''Oropedio Lasithiou''), sometimes spelt Lassithi Plateau, is a high endorheic plateau, located in the Lasithi regional unit in eastern Crete, Greece. Since the 1997 Kapodistrias reform, ...

via a steel piping in a long tunnel with an inclination of 15%. Hence, the dam additionally serves

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water levels ...

purposes. The reservoir has an area of and a combined

drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

of . The dam overflowed for the first time in February 2019.Υπερχείλισε για πρώτη φορά το φράγμα του Αποσελέμη
www.lifo.gr, 26/2/2019. A water treatment plant with a daily capacity of provides drinking water to consumers via a system of water mains that is over long.

References

External links

Info about the dam
from Space-O
Φράγμα Αποσελέμη
from Crete Development Organization Dams in Greece Buildings and structures in Heraklion (regional unit) Landforms of Heraklion (regional unit) Embankment dams {{Greece-lake-stub

History

Construction details

See also

References

External links