Kebar Dam
Encyclopedia
The Kebar Dam is a masonry
arch dam
on the Kebar River, located 23 km southeast of Qom
, Iran
near the village of Khowrabad. The dam is an early arch dam and was the first arch dam constructed by the Mongolians, around 1300 AD. The dam is 26m tall and 55m wide and was constructed for irrigation water supply. It was originally 24m tall but 2m of height was added in either the beginning or middle of the 17th century. The arch of the dam was of normal curvature with a radius of 35m and angle of 45-degrees. While the dam sat on limestone
, its curve rested on two winged walls that served as abutments. The downstream face of the dam was vertical until near its abutment where it slightly curves out. Near the dam's right, or western, abutment there is a 10m deep cylindrical hole which served as an intake and outlet works
for the dam. The outlet works is located at the bottom and is a larger opening but there are various smaller openings throughout the shaft to release water. The dam impounded a small reservoir that is no longer used and is mostly filled with silt
.
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
arch dam
Arch dam
An arch dam is a type of dam that is curved and commonly built with concrete. The arch dam is a structure that is designed to curve upstream so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, compressing and strengthening the structure as it pushes...
on the Kebar River, located 23 km southeast of Qom
Qom
Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
near the village of Khowrabad. The dam is an early arch dam and was the first arch dam constructed by the Mongolians, around 1300 AD. The dam is 26m tall and 55m wide and was constructed for irrigation water supply. It was originally 24m tall but 2m of height was added in either the beginning or middle of the 17th century. The arch of the dam was of normal curvature with a radius of 35m and angle of 45-degrees. While the dam sat on limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, its curve rested on two winged walls that served as abutments. The downstream face of the dam was vertical until near its abutment where it slightly curves out. Near the dam's right, or western, abutment there is a 10m deep cylindrical hole which served as an intake and outlet works
Outlet works
A set of outlet works is a device used to release and regulate water flow from a dam. Such devices usually consist of one or more pipes or tunnels through the embankment of the dam, directing water usually under high pressure to the river downstream...
for the dam. The outlet works is located at the bottom and is a larger opening but there are various smaller openings throughout the shaft to release water. The dam impounded a small reservoir that is no longer used and is mostly filled with silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
.