2012 ~ Travel blog

Sunday 29 January 2012

03:00 Fakhar

Tallest Dam In Russia

The Chirkey Dam is is the tallest arch dam in Russia. It is located on the Sulak River, Dagestan. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and it supports a 1,000 MW power station. Construction on the dam began in 1964, the first generator was operational by 1974, the last in 1976 while the project was complete in 1978. It is situated in a seismic area. Installation work was accomplished due to three cable cranes with load-carrtying ability of 25 tons. By the way, it was the first time that they applied cable cranes at underpouring the body of the dam.They had to blast the rocks to block the river. Over 65,000 m3 of rock fell down as a result of a 37-ton explosion.The arch dam’s thickness varies from 6 m to 30 m. In general, there are three hydropower plants in Russia.

02:47 Fakhar

The Largest Diamond Deposit In Russia

The Udachnaya pipe is the largest diamond deposit in Russia and one of the largest in the world. According to Wikipedia, it is an open-pit mine and it is almost 600 meters (1 968 ft.) deep. When you are standing on the top, the huge Caterpillars look tiny. And when you are at the bottom of the pipe, it looks… well, it looks just amazing (the 2nd photo).