Changuinola Dam

Changuinola I Dam, is located in district of Changuinola, in the Province of Bocas del Toro, in the western part of Panama. It is the largest roller-compacted concrete arch-gravity dam in the World.

Technical features
The design of the dam was conducted by Malcolm Dunstan & Associates engineering and construction company.

The construction of the dam started on October 25, 2007 and its first generator was operational on November 19, 2011. The roller-compacted concrete arch-gravity dam has a maximum height of 99.2 m and length of 600 m. The upstream vertical face arch radius is 525 m. The induced joints are spaced at 20 m intervals, with inducers installed in every second layer after compaction. The downstream face slope varies form 0.5:1 (H:V) in the center and 0.7:1 (H:V) on the flanks.

The RCC mix strength requirements were determined by a target direct tensile strength of 1.2 MPa. The composition of the high-paste RCC mix included:
 * Portland Cement - 70 kg/m3
 * Fly Ash - 145 kg/m3
 * Water - 119 kg/m3
 * Coarse Aggregate - 1282 kg/m3
 * Fine Aggregate - 888 kg/m3
 * Retarder - 3.44 kg/m3