Wholeheartedly : Inheriting safety spirits of Kansai Electric Power
We should keep vigilant eyes during
Kurobe dam was completed in 1963, more than 50 years ago.
The construction of Kurobe dam, which was a bet-the-company project, costed then 51.3 billion yen and required a total as many as 10 million workers spending 7 years.
At present, the arch dam having a capacity of 200 million m3 is sending reserved water to No.4 Kurobegawa Power Station about 10 kilometer downstream, which annually generates 900,000 MWh electricity (for approximately 250,000 households).
Only 5 but highly capable staff members are responsible for the management and operation of Kurobe dam.
All of them including assistant manager live in the management office located nearby Kurobe dam, and engage in the management and operation of the dam round-the-clock. Maruyama is one of the members, and he is responsible for the maintenance of main facilities, including the dam embankment and channel.
"Routine work is basically the repetition of the same activity"
says Mr. Maruyama. As he mentions, most of their work activities require steady efforts. For example, when they check up if there are any anomalies inside the dam, such as water leakage or power outage, a pair of workers enter into the monitoring corridor, which is the inspection passage extending like a labyrinth, and walk on their foot almost throughout the way to perform patrols.
"Inspection does not mean just looking around but we take the advantage of our five senses to perform thorough checkups"
Since Kurobe dam is the highest dam in Japan at 186 meters having a large height difference, performing inspection only is often exhaustive.
"When I go to inspect the hydraulic iron pipe which connects the power station underground with the dam, I sometimes go up and down about 2,600 stairs. I don't think it's tough, but my legs feel heavy lead after completing work."
We should keep vigilant eyes during the harsh winter and sweltering summer.
Kurobe dam is located within the Chubu mountain national park with a series of 3,000 meters high mountains, which is in the snowy area where general tourists are not allowed to enter in mid-winter when the sightseeing route is closed. With the lowest temperature 20 degrees - C below zero, winter is the severe season for the management of the dam.
"Since machines are sometimes frozen by cold weather, we perform monitoring of the status of the dam more carefully and more frequently than usual.
On the other hand, in summer, in particular when hit by the heat wave, we have to be even more careful to see if there are any anomalies or minor changes in equipment in order to keep the equipment output at 100%."
Mr. Maruyama was born in 1963 coincidently when Kurobe dam was completed. He says he is deeply moved by the fact that he is now working at the dam which he read in the textbook when he was an elementary school student.
"I actually feel that this dam is truly wonderful when I see all kinds of efforts that my seniors made. I greatly admire predecessors and I would like to make every effort to pass on the great achievements to the younger."
Posted on April 30, 2014
