The Yaté Dam is an

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 strength ...

on the Yaté River in

Yaté Yaté is a commune in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The Yaté Dam and Blue River Provincial Park are located within the commune. Geography Climate Yaté has a tropical rainforest ...

commune of New Caledonia,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports a 68 MW power station. Plans for the project began in the early 1950s and the dam was designed by

Coyne et Bellier Coyne et Bellier is a global consulting and engineering firm based out of Gennevilliers, France. They specialize in infrastructure projects such as dams, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, roads, tunnels and other below-surface facilities. The ...

. The owner and operator of the project, New Caledonian Society Energy (ENERCAL), was established on 27 August 1955 to implement the project. Construction began that year and the power station was commissioned in 1958. The dam and entire scheme was inaugurated by

Jacques Soustelle Jacques Soustelle (3 February 1912 – 6 August 1990) was an important and early figure of the Free French Forces, a politician who served in the French National Assembly and at one time served as Governor General of Algeria, an anthropologist ...

, then Minister of State in charge of Overseas Departments, on 21 September 1959. It is the tallest dam and creates the largest reservoir in New Caledonia. While the main retaining portion of the dam is an arch design, it also has a concrete

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...

section and an earthen and rock-fill section. The arch dam has a height of and length of . On its left side adjoins the gravity section which serves as a

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 t ...

and is tall. It is long. The embankment section located direct the northwest of the gravity portion is long. Water from the dam is diverted through the hillsides via two long

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. ...

s to the power station downstream along the Yaté River in the town of Yaté. The difference in elevation between the dam and power station affords a

hydraulic head Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a specific measurement of liquid pressure above a vertical datum., 410 pages. See pp. 43–44., 650 pages. See p. 22. It is usually measured as a liquid surface elevation, expressed in units of length, ...

(water drop) of . Within the power station lies four 17 MW Francis turbine-generates which produce an average of 307 GWh annually.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yate Dam Dams in New Caledonia Dams completed in 1959 Arch dams Hydroelectric power stations in New Caledonia Energy infrastructure completed in 1958