Purpose
The dam serves mainly for the generation of hydroelectric power. It is an important component of Southern California Edison's Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, which comprises a system of 25 dams, nine power plants and supporting tunnels and diversion channels in the upper basin of the San Joaquin River. Water from the reservoir is diverted into a 7.45-mile (11.99 km)-long reinforced concrete penstock into Mammoth Pool Powerhouse, which has two 100,000 hp turbines totaling a nominal generating capacity of 190 megawatts (MW). Due to friction decreasing flow rate in the power tunnel, the actual output during maximum generation is only about 187 MW. A 350 ft (110 m) high surge chamber is located shortly above the powerhouse to provide protection to the turbines in case of abrupt flow fluctuations through the tunnel. The 1,004 ft (306 m) hydraulic head afforded to the power plant is almost three times greater than the dam's structural height.
Read more about this topic: Mammoth Pool Dam
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond,
And do a willful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be dressed in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit,
As who should say, “I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!””
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The purpose of polite behavior is never virtuous. Deceit, surrender, and concealment: these are not virtues. The goal of the mannerly is comfort, per se.”
—June Jordan (b. 1939)
“Culture is the tacit agreement to let the means of subsistence disappear behind the purpose of existence. Civilization is the subordination of the latter to the former.”
—Karl Kraus (1874–1936)