Marèges Dam

The Marèges Dam is a concrete arch dam on the Dordogne River. It is located 4 km 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.

The dam and its power plant was built to help France become less dependent on costly energy resource imports after World War I. 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.

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.