Design of a Gravity Dam on the Course of the Wadi Labda – Libya

Abstract

In average years, the Wadi Labda floods four or five times a year, and all its water flows into the sea without being released. Since the city of Al-Khums, which relies on a network of wells for its drinking water, is located in the Wadi Labda, it considered the possibility of reclaiming the water currently lost to the sea to supply these wells. Therefore, the wadi was deemed suitable from hydrological, hydrogeological, and topographical perspectives by international consulting firms in 1972, and a suitable location for a dam was identified by studying the contour map of the area's elevation. The dam was designed based on a maximum water level of 25 meters in the valley, and a storage basin with a capacity of 5,200,000 cubic meters and a length of 1,056 meters. The necessary design data was obtained from the General Authority for Water, Central Region Branch. The design was meticulously planned for every linear meter of the dam structure to ensure its safety, starting from the dam base in section '1-1'.