Marèges Dam

The Marèges Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Dordogne River. It is located 4 km (2 mi) southeast of Liginiac in Corrèze department, France. It was constructed between 1932 and 1935 by the Railway Company du Midi. Its primary purpose is the generation of hydroelectricity and the original power station contained four Francis turbine-generators.

Marèges Dam
Location of Marèges Dam in France
Official name	Barrage de Marèges
Country	France
Location	Liginiac
Coordinates	45°23′30″N 2°21′51″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	1932
Opening date	1935
Owner(s)	Société Hydroélectrique du Midi (SHEM)
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Concrete arch, double-curvature
Height	89.5 m (294 ft)
Length	198 m (650 ft)
Elevation at crest	408 m (1,339 ft)
Width (crest)	3 m (10 ft)
Width (base)	19 m (62 ft)
Dam volume	185,000 m3 (241,971 cu yd)
Reservoir
Total capacity	47,000,000 m3 (38,104 acre⋅ft)[1]
Catchment area	2,540 km2 (981 sq mi)
Surface area	1.2 km2 (297 acres)[2]
Power Station
Commission date	1935/1988
Turbines	4 x 37.5 MW Francis-type, 1 x 122 MW Francis-type
Installed capacity	272 MW[3]
Annual generation	338 GWh[4]

The dam and its power plant was built to help France become less dependent on costly energy resource imports after World War I.[5] The fifth Francis turbine-generator, rated at 122 MW, at the Saint Pierre power station, on the left bank of the river, was commissioned in 1988.[6]

The dam, designed by André Coyne, incorporated several innovative features to include a ski-jump spillway, the right abutment anchored with a prestressed cables and monitored with vibrating wire sensors (emitting an audible signals like a guitar), and a new cofferdam design.[5]