THE MAVROVO HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380591-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 591
• Publication Date: March 28, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380591-4
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
uunfiun 119 1.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
COUNTRY '+?ugos_r ta?
SUBJECT Ec.o :om' : E]er,tr.ro power, construction
HOW
PUBLISHED Month-y Fe:icdica:.
WHERE
PUBLISHED Be. g= sde
DATE
PUBLISHED - --9 O
INI1 DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION MUCTINI 7141107IONAL DEFENSE
I. I. THE UKITIO STATES WITHIN 7
C.. 11 AND 12. AS AMENDED. III TRANSMISSION ON INS NITRATION
11 ?,
or AT LAW. IN 111N0DUCTION or 1NI1 FORME III P0ON 11711. ID ENO
DATE OF,
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. a $~ Mar 1951
NO. OF PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
THEE MAVROVCO HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT SYSTEM
The Mar-ovo hydroelectric power plant System, which was started in 1947 and
=ti order construe. Tien? is located in the watershed between the Adriatic
>_a1 Aages.n See dr iacge e.resea It is on the highway from Skopije to Obrid, 1,200
miter. +:;oove sea level, in a ravine 15 kilometers long, 2 to 5 kilometers wide,
,z. round on P',;, idea by the weeded Viajnica and Bistra mountain chains. A
narrow ,zccge .uti tbrougn the mount?3,in chain on the eastern side. The water
frcm the Mavro'ro ravine dratnn through the gorge into the Radika River valley,
tte Pr ~m River, an3. f ina ,, ly the Adriatic Sea.
An eexth d..m., i'Q meters h:.gh, one of the highest of this kind in Yugoslavia,
is under construction here. It vI11 prevent the drainage of water from the surm
round=ng m:,untains.into the Drim River and create a large artificial lake which
vill supply power and water to the Vardar valley. Considerable quantities of
water from the, Rs.dik.a River a:.d. from the smaller Belicica, Jelovska, and Vrutocka
r_vers will also be stored. in this lake.
A tunnel through the Vlajnica mountain chain is under ennstruction opposite
the lake. This tunnel will pipe water from the lake to the turbines installed
underground at Vrutok. The water, from the lake will also be utilized by the
Smaller installations on the edge of the Gostivar and Tetovo Plain at the foot
of the Sax. Mountains; then the same water will irrigate the Gostivar and Tetovo
Plain? and the remaining water will. be channeled to the Vardar bed to irrigate
the other fields in the Vardar valley,
The Msvrovo hydroelectric power plant system is planned to be constructed
In two stages. In the first stage, a.yearls accumulation of water will be
sicced in the lake. In the second. stage, the lake will be enlarged to accom-
modate more than a year's accumulation.
.kern rrvxeda.
GOHr'DE%11kt
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GONFE1ENT9
T e firs*_ siege c' -cn;;tr?z:tiOn 'nvolves an earth dam 48 meters high, with
vo 'a rf 550.000 obi;. meters. The maximum headwater in the artificial lake
,;t i he st an ie;at:on of 1,222 meters; the minimum headwater at an elevation
.~.O7 meters; the headwater ver ation, 20 meters; the water volume below spill-
wsv '=ral 8a mi,.lion cubic meters; the water volume above spillway level, 200
mil .oa cubi_ meters; and total volume, 284 million cubic meters. The following
r_sk.e n.i d:e:harge channels will be built (in meters):
hora Pipelines Aque
Si
al
C
ducts Total
g
s
an
fi r.e.4
-1,947 48:; 470 1
30 28, 538
F!e1L'1' ~~ 0.250 130 -
- 10,380
10,450
MV--,, 6 2 460 :,780 3,0l4
- 11,465
Tct 22,067 32,757 2,395 3,484
130 60,833
:l e Vrben Hyd.roe'!ectric Power Plant, one of the components of the Mavrovo
sya*.em?, vii- have four Francis turbines, each receiving 2 cubic meters of water
and uti]izing : gradient of 193 meters. It will have a capacit of
1~.,n^ k_iocrat`s, and. produce u4,800.000 kilowatt-hours of power fannually4 .
Tre Vrutok Hy:'roalectr"_c Power Plant, another component of the Mavrovo?sys-
tr de, quartz, or cerussite shales, The bottom
e-.d `d e _f the-earth dam are :racked and broken diastase. The lower part, from
t)e iec tc ':h ar utck Hydreeiec.u ;c Power Plant, is marked by a large gorge,
h, r ;;= e1o;g the edge of the artificial lake and cuts through the Vlajnica
c'astn e moe: zto the Sar Mountain range along the edge of the Gostivar-
Teto-: _ 'ia:Iey,
;I,- ee:cr.dary gorges., limestone formations, fractures, and the diverse com-
pos--ion of the mountain msspe5, varying from the poorest cerussite limestone to
'rre best quartz and limestone,, with frequent and sudden changes from one to tie
other, present a wide field for the application of various technical underground
construction methods.
The state highway from Skoplje through Gostivar and Debar to Ohrid passes
in the direct vicinity of the principal buildings of the lower section of the
Mavrovo and Vrutok installations. However, 100 kilometers of new roads and ap-
proaches should be built; these would take into account the installations at
Vrutok the upgrade to the reservoir (a difference in elevation of about 600
meters , the diversion of the state highway from the dam because of flooding, a
road around the lake, and a road through the difficult-to-approach faulted val-
ley of the Radika River.
In addition to the new roads mentioned, and the 8-kilometer railroad spur
from Goativer to Vrutok, a 14-kilometer cableway is under construction. It
goes from Vrutok (Hill 660) to the reservoir (Hill 1,240), along the path of the
tonne.:.; through the deeply cut Dufsksriver valley (Hill 1,700) to Bogdevo and
N_cpur in the Rad.ike River valley.
GONF6UENTIAC
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IDEYTTAL
Ecnromic5i construction depends on using basic construction materials from
1rear sources as much as possible,- gravel or rock fragments, sand, and construc-
tion girt. However. waterproof concrete linings for the tunnels, which are 3.20
meters in diameter, 6,1 kilometers long, and must withstand 3 to 7.5 atmospheres
of pressure, anct be mare of rock fragments but will require good natural sand,
which were have to be transported 80 to 100 kilometers. Stone quarries are to be
openel near the individual b'xiidings to supply over 200,000 cubic meters of ma-
tsria', for cc:~c-ete. A central stone quarry will be opened near the reservoir.
This quarry wil. be egatpped for the taking out, breaking, and separating of ma.
tercel ;?_ord`ng tc pre-estAbiiFh_ed ratios, =o that the material transported by
3bi=vgy wt1... s=1e-ted end:i.nshet.'.ea before being transported. Laboratories
Lo'.,.. concrete; and cement w ,..I be at the building site. The strength
cf ~h,~ undergr^;nd stream flew rind the preparation of concrete will be determined
't r~,;;,;. ^! 1,boratorie4.
Thy 34_n. 48 m=.ter_ high .'+ meters in the second stage of construction), 6
meter_ w: :e. i90 meter: ic?';q, 5,50,000 ?;ublc meters in volume, is being built of
:-y scii. Tht aide toward the water has a core wall of stone. The gradients
v~_y b=tween the limits cf 12 up and is3 down. The discharge tunnel is parar
bp..i is C.ros:.:~=t..1om
The turri from the lake to the reservoir is about 6.1 meters long and 3.2
m=t:~r_ -.n diameter, and receives 32 cubic. meters of water per second. The in-
ter .a=. Lreseuzes in he first section of the tunnel which runs fr.- i the lake to
the. p:on are up tc 4 kl .ogrems p s7. egasre centimeter. This section of the tun?-
ne.. peaseE, through about 500 meters of luminiferous shale, then through broken
er',estte shat..=.., through graphite and chloride shale, and for 200 meters through
.:1mG 1't jryPo Tnl~ dart of the tunnel. is enclosed in ordinary grade 110 concrete
35 .entimet--ra thick.
Ta:- second aecticn of the turner from the siphon to the reservoir passes
thrc gb graphite, rhicrtde, and quartz shales, limestone, and slightly broken
er 0.Ssite shale. The inte=nal pressures vary from 6.3 to 7.5 kilograms per
squyre ctntlmei.tr, The selection of the tunnel. lining is being studied so that
tb1_ motion of the tunnel., abo'at 3 kilometers in length, will probably be lined
W: t; 1.ron pi?1:CE.
The cres:ing over the deep valley of the Dufska River is made by means of
an 890?meter?-Long steel???iin~;d syphon. Internal pressures vary from 4 kilograms
per =q':are :entimtter at tne beginning,. 27 kilograms at the bottom, and 6 kilo-
gr:.m_ ~,t the end. The maximum speed of the water is 7 meters per second. The
s:phci ,r=.rles from 1,,900 to 1,800 and 1,700 millimeters in diameter.
'11= re_.rrvcir is eO m'tors deep and receives a maximum of 4.5 cubic meter
of w.gtsr.pe.r se:orid.
CONFIDENTIAL
G NF .ENTIA1
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/14: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600380591-4