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Gileppe Dam
The Gileppe Dam (French ''Barrage de la Gileppe'') is an arch-gravity dam on the Gileppe river in Jalhay, Liège province, Wallonia, Belgium. It was built in the 1870s to supply water for the wool industry in nearby Verviers. The monumental structure with its unusually thick profile played an important role in establishing an international standard for masonry gravity dams as a technology for major water supply systems.〔David P. Billington and Donald C. Jackson, ''Big Dams of the New Deal Era: A Confluence of Engineering and Politics'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 2006), p. 34 (online. )〕 It was considered one of the strongest dams in Europe at the time,〔R.S. Kirby, P.G. Laurson, ''The Early Years of Modern Civil Engineering'' (Yale University Press, 1932), p. 209.〕 and it was the first dam built in modern Belgium.〔Easton Devonshire, "The Gileppe Dam," ''Transactions of the British Association of Waterworks Engineers'' 9 (1904), p. 263 (online ), quoting a report to the Belgian government by the project's chief engineer.〕 In the first decade of the 21st century, it was noted as supplying most of the drinking water for Verviers, as well as industrial water, and as producing hydroelectricity.〔David Aubin and Frédéric Varone, ''EUwareness Case Study Report 1: Vesdre River Basin, Belgium'' (Université Catholique de Louvain, 2002), pp. 7 and 15.〕
==Background==
In the 19th century, the dam was built to ensure the water supply for Verviers, the center of the wool industry in Belgium. Wool was imported through Antwerp and washed at Verviers, situated between the Ardennes and Belgium's Carboniferous region, before it was shipped for manufacture in Germany and Austria.〔John McFarlane, ''Economic Geography'' (London, 1937), p. 94 (online. )〕 Wool washing was facilitated by the high acidity of the water. Originally, the industry's water source was the Vesdre river, which proved to be insufficient; moreover, water was returned to the river so polluted that it destroyed the fish population and was blamed for the spread of malaria downstream.〔Abstract in English translation of M. Bodson, E. Detienne, and F. LeClercq (see Selected bibliography) in ''Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers'' 48 (1877), p. 312, henceforth cited as ''Minutes''.〕 In the summer, when water levels were at their lowest, the industry faced shortages, and the local population relied on a limited supply of drinking water from springs.〔Aubin and Varone, p. 23.〕 A dam was proposed, with studies to be undertaken by the engineer Bidaut.〔Monsieur Bidaut's first name remains elusive in the sources.〕 The goal was to provide the river Vesdre with about 3,000,000 cubic metres of water for the year, and 14,600,704 cubic metres to industry (8,808,000 gallons a day).〔''Minutes'' p. 312, converting amounts given in cubic yards to cubic metres.〕 After delays, a design was submitted in 1868 to the Minister of Public Works.〔''Minutes'' p. 312.〕
The main function of the Gileppe Dam in the 21st century is to provide drinking water. As these needs are met, surplus water is turbinated.〔Aubin and Varone, p. 18.〕 In 1997, the Gileppe Dam produced 3,255,525 cubic metres of drinking water.〔Aubin and Varone, p. 15.〕 Although capacity is small, the Vesdre basin is one of the few places in Belgium to produce hydropower.〔
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