Dam Leakage Detection in Macedonia

A rockfill dam with an asphalt core required leakage detection and seepage monitoring using GTC Kappelmeyer's Fiber Optic Leakage Detection method with an AP Sensing DTS (Distributed Temperature Sensing) device.

 

 

In order to solve water-supply problems in six municipalities in eastern Macedonia, the Knezevo dam project was commissioned. The rockfill dam with an asphalt core is 75 meters high and 300 meters wide at the base. Its storage facility is 4 km long and it holds 23.5 million cubic meters of water. 

About 1200 m of sensor cable was required. A hybrid sensor cable was used because it makes use of multimode sensor fibers together with copper wires in the tube to facilitate controlled heating and cooling. In this case the copper wires have about 11 W/m heat output and 4 heating cycles are carried out daily.

Both the monitoring and the alarm-generating operations use the parameters for absolute temperature, effective thermal conductivity, and temperature change. The AP Sensing DTS device has a 2 km range and 2 channels. The operators have a permanent, real-time overview of all seepage and leakage conditions via a web browser. Using the login details this can be viewed anywhere.

An important infrastructure that ensures the water supply for six Macedonian municipalities is securely and efficiently monitored.