Hellas Dam
History & Concept
After the revolution of 1900 the newly coronated Sultan began an ambitious slate of civil construction projects as a way of providing employment to the vast number of homeless and poverty stricken citizens across the country of Sayaffallah. One of the areas of particular concern was Lake Sayaff in which homes were raised on stilts to avoid the regular flooding that occurred as large amounts of water cascaded down the Tiger River from glaciers at its source into the lake below. In an effort to reduce the inevitable flooding that came from the river the Sultan ordered that the government look into methods of controlling the flooding and reducing it so that it would no longer be problematic for those living within the area of the lake itself.
The main proposal the came forward was to create a system of levies and canals that would send the water from the lake into farming fields several hundred kilomteres away with outflow from the canals possible for fields along its route. This plan however failed to address the alleviation of the flooding in the lake itself.By creating a series of canals it would simply lower the water level altogether of the lake and negatively impact the ability of the residents to hunt for fish and make their livelihood by the water. The Sultan howevr pushed forwards with the idea and proposed it directly to the people living around the lake but he outcry was too much and the people emphatically rejected the idea.
In response the Sultan ordered the construction a large scale dam to be put in place across the Tiger River to prevent excessive flow into the Sayaff Lake so as to ensure that the livelihoods of the people would be preserved and that they would be able to continue to enjoy the fresh glacial water from the lake without worrying about it being diverted away to other areas. To accomplish this the Sultan ordered that 10,000 laborers be assembled and transported to the area to begin knocking down trees for the project. In addition to this a team of 500 engineers were employeed and began working to find ways of constructing the dam in an efficient manner that respected the resources provided.
Construction Begins
Construction of the dam finished in 1930 nearly 20 years after the initial construction had begun originally and the dam towered over the surrounding countryside at a height of 55 ft (16m) and a restaurant and observation deck created at the top. In addition to this the Sultan had a large tourist lodge created along with infrastructure to support the creation of the tourist lodge. The project in total had cost an excess of $37.5M to complete and had resulted in over 10,550 laborers being employed in the project. Ultimately in the end the wooden frames were removed from the dam and cement was placed over steel beams so as to solidify the structure itself. On the outside a polycarbon coating was placed to ensure that the dam was able to withstand the dyanamic pressure and regular volumetric pressure of the water itself as it pressed against the other side of the dam.
The lodge itself was built with an occupancy of 2500 people at any given time and the infrastructure built allowed for an annual staff of 300 to care for guests as needed within the complex. The lodge also included the creation and implementaiton of large hiking trails around the outside perimeter of the lake and an intricate system of boats to ferry people to points of interest along the lake. However all of this infrastructure meant a diversion of resources typically spent and allocated to the poor rural areas outside of the dam as had been the case for many decades prior to the dam construction. This diversion of resources eliminated direct accountability on a regional level and instead kicked the issued directly to a national level in a way that disenfranchised local residents. Many local residents left the region and instead traveled to other areas having seen the lodge as a breach of trust between the residents and their government on the national level.
