The Pandoh Dam is an embankment dam

Embankment dam

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

 on the Beas River

Beas River

The Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....

 in Mandi district

Mandi district

Mandi district is one of the central districts of Himachal Pradesh state in northern India. Mandi town is the headquarters of Mandi district Mandi. The town has both mythological and historical significance and boasts of a unique temple architecture...

 of Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

, India. Under the Beas Project, the dam was completed in 1977 and its primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation. Part of a run-of-the-river power scheme, it diverts the waters of the Beas to the southwest through a 38 km (24 mi) long system of tunnels and channels. The water is used for power generation at the Dehar Power House before being discharged into the Sutlej River, connecting both rivers. The power house has an installed capacity of 990 MW.

Design and operation

Water diverted by the 76 m (249 ft) tall Pandoh Dam is first sent south through the 13.1 km (8 mi) Pandoh-Baggi Tunnel which terminates at the beginning of a 11.8 km (7 mi) long channel. At the end of the channel, the water is stored at the Sundar Nagar Balancing Reservoir at 31°32′05"N 76°53′11"E. The reservoir has a live capacity of 3700000 cubic metre. From the balancing reservoir, water is again sent south through the 12.38 km (8 mi) long Sundar Nagar Slapper tunnel. The tunnel ends just before the Dehar Power House at 31°24′47"N 76°52′06"E. It splits into three sections followed by six penstock

Penstock

A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydraulic turbines and sewerage systems. It is a term that has been inherited from the technology of wooden watermills....

s before reaching the power house. Water from each penstock is fed into a single 165 MW Francis turbine

Francis turbine

The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....

-generator and then discharged in the Sutlej. The change in elevation affords a hydraulic head

Hydraulic head

Hydraulic head or piezometric head is a specific measurement of water pressure above a geodetic datum. It is usually measured as a water surface elevation, expressed in units of length, at the entrance of a piezometer...

 of 335 m (1,099 ft).

See also

• Pong Dam
  Pong Dam
  The Pong Dam, also known as the Beas Dam, is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Beas River just upstream of Talwara in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. The purpose of the dam is water storage for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. As the second phase of the Beas Project,...
  
  – located 140 km (87 mi) downstream, the second phase of the Beas Project