THE 5 DAMS OF THE DOURO RIVER

The Douro River is an international river, which rises in the hills of Urbion, in Spain, and covers about 850 km until
its mouth in the city of Porto. Along its course, in an extension of about 210km in Portugal, was constructed 5
dams (Crestuma-Lever, Carrapatelo, BagaÚSte, Valeira and Pocinho) which thanks to their navigation locks,
allow the realization of cruises between the mouth of the river and Barca D’Alva / Vega de Terron (Spanish
border).

The Douro River is one of the most emblematic river courses in all of Europe. It has the virtue, like no other,
of bathing or passing near places classified as UNESCO World Heritage (Salamanca, in Spain, the rock
engravings of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, the city of Porto and Douro winegrowing region).

In Portugal, Douro's inland waterway runs along 208km from the Atlantic Ocean to the Spanish border of
Barca D'Alva, with 125m of irregularities which are resolved by 5 navigation locks (from 13 to 35m).
Considered a navigable waterway with international and modern characteristics, it is open, along all its
extension, to recreational boats of all types except sailboats with over 7.20m of mast. The maximum
dimensions of the boats allowed in the locks: length 83m; beam 11.4 m; draft 3.8m; air draft 7.5 m. Constraints
upstream of the Pinhão due to the bottleneck of the channel: length 80m; draft 2m.

The navigation channel is marked with signal buoys, in the regulatory colours and along the wa- terway
there are about 60 river piers that allow for this type of boats. In addition to its natural be- auty, the Douro
offers the practice of river sports, specifically rowing, sailing, canoeing and motor- boating.

Width Depth Irregularities

The navigation channel, marked The Navigation channel currently The 125m of irregularities that the
where necessary with buoys, green on al- lows for minimum depths of: river has between the sea and Barca
the left bank and red on the right • 4.20m from the sea to Pinhão d'Alva is resolved by 5 locks that all
bank, has the following minimum and from Pocinho to Barca d'Alva have the same width (12.10 m), and
width: • 2.00m from Pinhão to the a length along the longitudinal axis
• In rocky riverbed: 40m Pocinho dam (however, there are that is between 86.00 and 92.00 m
• In alluvial riverbed: 60m sections where it is more).
How does a lock work?
A lock works by raising and lowering boats in a device between stretches of water of different levels on
rivers and canal waterways. Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to take
a reasonably direct line across a country that is not level.

Step 1: The ship approaches a Step 2: The door closes behind Step 3: The far door opens,
lock. The first door opens, the ship. The lock compartment and the ship departs at the new,
and the ship enters the lock is filled with water, raising the higher (or lower) level of the
com- partment. ship. river. Alternate lock sections
can be drained
for incoming
ships from higher
levels.
 Pocinho Dam
It was the fourth dam to be built on the Douro River between 1978 and 1983.
It is placed at about 180km far from the mouth of the river.
The lock of navigation is 85m long, 12m wide and the difference in the water
level is about 20m. The downstream gate open and close on a book shape. The
power station produces an average of 663 Gwatts per year.
Valeira Dam
It was the third dam to be built on the Douro River, between 1971
and 1976.
The lock of navigation is 85m long, 23m wide and the differ- ence
in the water level is about 32. The downstream gate open and close
on a guillotine shape. The power station pro- duces an average of
663 Gwatts per year.

BAGAÚSTE Dam
It was the second dam to be built on the Douro River, be- tween
1967 and 1973.

The lock of navigation of this dam is about 85m long, 12m wide
and the difference in the water level is of 27m. The downstream
gate open and close on a guillotine shape. The power station
produces an average of 620,8 Gwatts per year.
Carrapatelo Dam
It was the first dam to be built on the Douro River, between 1964
and 1971.
The lock of navigation of this dam is about 85m long and 12m
wide. The difference in the water level of this lock is about 35m and
it makes it be one of the highest dam in the world. The downstream
gate of this dam is in a guillotine shape and its 12m wide and 22m
high. It weighs about 150 tons.
The power station produces an average of 783 Gwatts per year.

Crestuma-Lever Dam
This was the fifth and last dam to be built on the Douro River and it was built
between 1978 and 1985.
The lock of navigation of this dam is 12 meters wide and 90 meters long. The
difference in the water level of this lock is about 14 meters. The downstream
gate open and close on a book shape. The power station produces an average
of 311 Gwatts per year.

WHEREVER YOU GO BECOMES A PART OF YOU SOMEHOW