Behavior of hydropower plant "La Yesca" Mexico, after two year of built

Abstract

This paper presents the program instrumentation, monitoring and performance of Hydropower Plant “La Yesca”, which is a concrete face rockfill dam, with 207,5 m high (inaugurated on November 6, 2012). During de filling of the reservoir, high leaks where measured on the drainage gallery of the curtain and on the injection and drainage galleries, particularly on the right bank. To reduce the anomalous seepage in the galleries a series of studies were done to define the source of the leaks and implement corrective measures. Currently the embankments of the dam and the concrete face show a good behavior. They present less than 20 cm of maximum settlement from the reservoir filling and two years of operation. The instruments placed on the joints of the slabs of concrete face show less than 15 mm in opening or settlement as result of the good performance.