The dam,
which takes it name from the adjacent village of Castelo
do Bode*see footnote, began construction in 1945. The barragem took
five years to complete and was opened in 1951. It links
the two
districts of
Abrantes (east)
and
Tomar (west) by the N358 road, which
traverses the structure.
The dam measures 115 metres in height
and is the highest
structure of this kind in Portugal. However the barragem
is one of three dams forming
Castelo do Bode lake,
though is the largest.
The
principle reason for building the dam was to provide
drinking water to Lisbon, though with a mind to
providing sustainable, green energy to the people of
Portugal at the same time.
In the
1940s this was a very foreword thinking view and
although the inhabitants of six villages within the low
lying valleys of the
Rio Zêzere
which were flooded, the economical and ecological gains
the country has made it was surely worth it.
These underwater ruined
'schist' villages though now provide scuba diving
enthusiasts with marvels to look out for and there are
many scuba clubs who make regular dives to the sites.
The excavations works on
Castelo do Bode barragem started in September 1947
when the River Zêzere was at it's driest. By July 1948
the work on pouring the steel reinforced concrete, which
forms the structure began. By the following year (1949)
the mechanical and electrical equipment began
installation.
However
it was only in 1950 when the dam structure was complete,
did the long process of flooding the valley of the River
Zêzere commence. The first of the generators was
installed in 1951, the last of the generators was
installed in March 1952, after the dam's inauguration.
In an exhibition of public
works in Portugal, Castelo do Bode dam was heralded as
'pioneering and transforms the torrents of our big
rivers in Portugal for tomorrow'.
Construction of
Castelo do Bode
View from
Base of Dam
Original Control Panel
The
hydro-electricity plant is situated at the base of the
dam of Castelo do Bode and controls the disgorging of water into the
Rio Zêzere by
two large flood gates. There are three large inlet
tunnels, now deep beneath the waters of Castelo do Bode,
each measuring approximately four metres in diameter and
are between 39.5 and 48 metres in length.
The hydro-electric plant
has three groups of turbines, which were made by the
English Electric Company, sited vertically, as well as
two smaller auxiliary turbines sited horizontally.
When the
barragem was first opened it took 140 employees to
operate the controls, ensuring the level of water were
maintained and the production of hydro-electricity was
kept at a constant rate.
However in
However today (as of
2010) Castelo do Bode needs only 140 to control all 27
barragems (dams) in the central region of Portugal.
How Castelo do Bode
got it's name
*Ernesto Antunes from Tomar, remembers
clearly the time when Castelo do Bode acquired it's
unusual name (castle of the goat). Ernesto, a child of
seven at the time, accompanied his father, a taxi driver
employed by engineers employed to prepare topographic
surveys for the proposed dam in the 1930s. to visit the
various sites they needed to inspect when the naming
ceremony happened.
The naming, Ernesto said, occurred when
he (holding all the relevant maps), the engineers and
his father were driving up the valley where the dam now
stands. The engineers commented on the hills surrounding
the valley had a profusion of grey rocks which resembled
a castle. At the moment of commenting this, the bleats
of a male goat could be heard and they joked it must be
the 'Castelo do Bode' or Castle of the Male goat.
Strange, but true says Ernesto, who still lives in the
area.
