After a visit and tour of the park La Llovizna in the city of Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar state, at the end of the tour my wife and I could not find transportation back home, which we decided to go walking, so we had to go through the Macagua dam, one of the most important hydroelectric dams in Venezuela, and that I have always appreciated passing by car, but I had never toured this infrastructure through an extensive walk, taking advantage of taking some pictures of it.
The Macagua dam was built from 1956 until its completion in 1961, under the direction of the Venezuelan engineer Rafael Alfonzo Ravard, of which a work consisting of 12 gates and 6 turbines was built, so that the waters of the Caroni River were used for the electrification of the city and the country. On the other hand, this dam has the particularity of having a highway that connects the city of Puerto Ordaz with the city of San Felix, as part of the access roads that were used for these connections on the Caroní River.
Mostly the material is composed of concrete and also certain materials such as iron, aluminum and others, which make up the large gates, which are usually opened during the rainy season and can be seen in the photographs, the amount of water that is relieved from the dam, which comes with a very large force and can be seen as a marvel of nature and human engineering.
Besides the fact that you can pass through the access road of the highway, it also has a bicycle path, which has a connection from the city of Puerto Ordaz, passing through the entire dam, La Llovizna Park until reaching the sectors of the city of San Felix. Therefore many people appreciate this ride by bicycle, but in our case it was walking, and although it is also very appreciated, we must take into account the long trajectory and the very humid and hot climate of the area.
In the first instance when you start to see the dam, first you pass by a large retaining wall of the Puerto Ordaz - San Felix direction, composed of a large amount of stones that were the product of the exploitation of granite in the area, for the construction of this dam and other works of the city, then you can go visualizing the gates, which depending on the season may be open or closed, and in front passing under the highway the spillway where all the water passes until you reach large lagoons overlooking the city of Puerto Ordaz.
Undoubtedly, one of the most emblematic engineering works of the country, which was part of the great progress that the city had in the 50s and 60s, when the electrification plan and urban development began, due to the growth of mining companies, which also had a very important role in the financing and execution of many works that had a great impact on a city that has the balance of its beautiful waterfalls and jungles with the urban.
All photographs and texts are my own.
Source consulted: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macagua_Dam
