Case Studies

Tous Dam is located in the Province of Valencia in the southeast corner of Spain, near the Mediterranean Coast. The dam is the last flood control structure on the Júcar River Basin, an 8,340-square-mile drainage. The Júcar River Basin ranges dramatically between sea level…

Vajont Dam is a double-curved, thin-arch dam, and at 860 feet high, it remains one of the tallest dams in the world. The dam is 11 feet wide at the crest, 73 feet wide at the base, with a crest length of 623 feet. There are 16 gates on the crest with an underground powerhouse…

Mining in the area around Mount Prestavèl in northeastern Italy dates to the sixteenth century and the extraction of argentiferous galena (a mineral of sulfur and lead). By 1934, fluorite had become the focus of mining in the area. In 1961, the mine operator at Val di Stava switched from a gravimetric system to a froth flotation process to separate the minerals from waste and constructed a new fluorite plant.

Walnut Grove Dam was constructed at a site approximately 20 miles northeast of Wickenburg, Arizona. Gold had been discovered in the area and a New York Investor, Wells H. Bates, wanted a dam built in order to supply water for hydraulic mining.

The Mill River in western Massachusetts typified the New England hydrologic resources used by 19th century industry, and the valley development was like that along hundreds of other rivers around New England. The river is a tributary of New England’s largest river, the Connecticut…

Wivenhoe and Somerset Dams are situated on the Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia, with a total catchment area of 2,710 square miles. Somerset Dam is located upstream of Wivenhoe Dam with a drainage of 520 square miles. The Dams are operated as water supply and flood control reservoirs by Seqwater, the Queensland Government Bulk Water Supply Authority.