Rapel Dam

The Rapel Dam is an arch dam on the Rapel River about 19 km north of La Estrella in the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region, Chile. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports a 377 MW power station. The dam was completed in 1968 and is owned by Endesa. It creates the largest reservoir in Chile with a capacity of 700000000 m3. The dam withstood the 7.5 Mw 1985 Rapel Lake earthquake with only minor damage. It was centered 45 km from the dam.

Design
The Rapel Dam is a 112 m tall and 350 m long variable-radius arch-type. It is 5.5 m wide at its crest and 19 m wide at its base. The dam's spillway is controlled by five tainter gates and has a discharge capacity of 10000 m3/s. The dam's reservoir, Lake Rapel has a 700000000 m3 capacity of which 530 e6m3 is active capacity.

Power station
The power station, located at the dam's base, contains five 75.4 MW Francis turbine-generators and is afforded 76 m of net hydraulic head.