Assessment of la Laguna dam structure and strength

Abstract

The reservoir known as the Zulalá Lagoon, is one of the major tourist attractions of the municipality of Cacota, located in the department of Norte de Santander, in the region of the Santurbán paramo, it is considered strange because in this mountainous area almost all the water descends instantaneously due to the verticality of the terrain. The lagoon's dam is trapezoidal in shape and measures 12 meters along the top of the lagoon, 5 meters high and 8 meters at its base. This is the source of La Laguna Creek, which flows into the Cacota River, and the municipality's water resources depend on it through a water network formed in the Mata de Lata Village. Problem: Corrosion is currently observed in the structure of the dam wall, which leads to the determination of the dam's resistance to hydrostatic pressure in order to propose types and guidelines for periodic maintenance with the purpose of preventing the formation of cracks and possible leaks, as well as other deterioration that may occur in the dam over time. Methodology: the research, of a descriptive quantitative type, consisted of calculating the pressure exerted by the water on the dam, its current state, for which inspections, data collection and simulations using finite elements were carried out. Results: It is found that the dam resists a force exerted by water pressure of 116 thousand kgf, presents a deterioration of 8% in its surface layer and even though visually there is no evidence of cracks, there is evidence of water filtration that may affect its stability, there is a deficiency of resistance, acceptable variability of the soil structure and a maximum deformation calculated in the order of 7 cm in the center of the crown that may be associated to the surface cracking reported.