The work and the technique: The Agaro Dam, Italy
Construction works of the Agaro Dam in Piedmont were commissioned by to increase the amount of electricity in Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria. They were assigned to Impresa Girola, which later became part of the current Webuild Group.
The plant was built as an ordinary gravity dam, with walls made of stones and cement mortar. The primary source where materials were taken from were the stone quarries in the areas near the worksite, with almost straight walls from which over 150,000 m3 of stones were taken, with explosives and jackhammers, which after being washed were later transported by rail to be used in the dam. The same quarries also supplied the blocks that make up the dam's area that touches water, which were squared by hand by an army of specialised stonemasons.
Other quarries (the local ones did not suffice for the purpose) were used for the sand to be used in the cement mortar, which was transported first by rail and then through a specifically created cableway built on site. After a washing and granulation process, the sand was mixed with the cement and taken to the dam with conveyor belts and carts.
The site's main feature, already witnessed by Impresa Girola, was building two large piers with an arched base like the dam, supported by metal piles placed upsteram and downstream. The piers will see horizontal cranes moving for the transport of suspended trolleys needed to deposit construction site materials, exactly where they needed to be used, therefore allowing to safe a great amount of time and workforce.
Manually, with extreme attention, the front in contact with the water was built using the previously squared blocks and the cement mortar, and the embankment with the three drainages was completed. Once the Agaro Dam worked, it allowed producing 50 million kW/h every year.