The Bhumibol Dam (''formerly known as the'' Yanhi Dam) is a concrete

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthen ...

on the

Ping River The Ping River ( th, แม่น้ำปิง, , ), along with the Nan River, is one of the two main tributaries of the Chao Phraya River. It originates at Doi Thuai in the Daen Lao Range, in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province. After pas ...

, a tributary of the

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. Et ...

, in

Sam Ngao District Sam Ngao ( th, สามเงา, ) with Tha Song Yang district is the northernmost district (''amphoe'') of Tak province, western Thailand. History The minor district (''king amphoe'') was established in 1930 as a subordinate of Ban Tak distri ...

Tak Province Tak ( th, ตาก, , Burmese: တာ့ခ် pronounced ak is one of Thailand's seventy-seven provinces (''changwat'') and lies in lower northern Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from north clockwise) Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. It is about north of Bangkok and was built for the purposes of water storage, hydroelectric power production, flood control, fisheries and

saltwater intrusion Saltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to groundwater quality degradation, including drinking water sources, and other consequences. Saltwater intrusion can naturally occur in coastal aquifers ...

management. The dam was named after

King Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...

and it was Thailand's first multi-purpose project. It is the highest dam in Thailand at tall.

Background

The dam was originally called Yanhee Dam in 1951 when the government of prime minister Field Marshal

Plaek Pibulsongkram Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram ( th, แปลก พิบูลสงคราม ; alternatively transcribed as ''Pibulsongkram'' or ''Pibulsonggram''; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), locally known as Marshal P. ( th, จอมพล � ...

initiated the project. It was renamed Bhumibol Dam in 1957. The dam, among others in the Chao Phraya basin, was constructed beginning in the 1950s to exploit the agricultural and hydroelectric potential of the basin. Construction on the dam began in 1958 and was finished in 1964 at a cost of 3.5 billion

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...

. The reservoir was completely filled in 1970. The first two generators were commissioned in 1964. In 1972, the

Sirikit Dam Queen Sirikit ( th, สิริกิติ์; ; ); born ''Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara ( th, สิริกิติ์ กิติยากร; ; 12 August 1932) is the queen mother of Thailand. She was Queen of Thailand as the wif ...

was completed on the

Nan River The Nan River ( th, แม่น้ำน่าน, , ) is a river in Thailand. It is one of the most important tributaries of the Chao Phraya River. Geography The Nan River originates in the Luang Prabang Range, Nan Province. The provinces ...

, one of two major tributaries of the Chao Phraya including the Ping. The Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams control 22 percent of the Chao Phraya's annual runoff combined. Both dams also help provide for the irrigation of in the wet season and in the dry season. In 1991, the Lower Mae Ping Dam () was constructed downstream to create a lower reservoir for the one

pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

turbine that was installed. When constructed, the Bhumibol Dam contributed 73.66 percent of Thailand's power generation and in 2003 that number was 2 percent. During the

2011 Thailand floods Severe flooding occurred during the 2011 monsoon season in Thailand. The flooding began at the end of July triggered by the landfall of Tropical Storm Nock-ten. These floods soon spread through the provinces of northern, northeastern, and centr ...

, rainfall for March 2011 over the area of

northern Thailand Northern Thailand, or more specifically Lanna, is geographically characterised by several mountain ranges, which continue from the Shan Hills in bordering Myanmar to Laos, and the river valleys which cut through them. Though like most of Thailand ...

was an extraordinary 344 percent above normal. Bhumibol Dam in particular got of rain, above the

mean There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the ''arithme ...

of and since 1 January had accumulated , or 186 percent above normal.

Design

The dam is an arch-gravity type and is tall, long and wide at its crest. It withholds a reservoir of of which is active or "useful" storage. The dam's catchment area is while its surface area is . The Lower Mae Ping Dam is high, long and has a storage capacity of . In off-peak hours, the one pump-turbine returns water back into the Bhumibol (upper) reservoir and when demand is high, the pump serves as a generator for power production.

Power station

The power plant contains eight turbines for an installed capacity of . Six are

Francis-type The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...

, one is a

Pelton turbine The Pelton wheel or Pelton Turbine is an impulse-type water turbine invented by American inventor Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse of moving water, as opposed to water's dead weight like the trad ...

and one is a Francis pump-turbine. The dam's power house underwent upgrades and renovations in the 1990s.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Bhumibol Dam
Bhumibol Dam
at Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand * tp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-II/TH/48377.TXT WMO Climate Normals: Bhumibol Dam Dams in Thailand Hydroelectric power stations in Thailand Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in Thailand Arch dams Dams completed in 1964 Buildings and structures in Tak province 1964 establishments in Thailand Energy infrastructure completed in 1964

Background

Design

Power station

See also

References

External links