The power canal at Belo Monte: A record-breaking feature of the scheme

The power canal at the Belo Monte hydro project in Brazil, with a length of 16 km and conveying a flow of 13 950 m³/s, has no precedent in the world in terms of size and capacity. The canal, which interconnects the upstream reservoir in the Xingu river with the intermediate reservoir immediately upstream of the 11 000 MW main powerhouse, required excavations which exceeded 100 x 106m3. This paper describes the characteristics of the canal, as well as the studies that led to the definition of its geometry, surface lining and hydraulic design.