Karun 4 Dam Bridge
Karun 4 Dam Bridge
سد کارون4
Kabusi, Chaharmahal, Iran
728 feet high / 222 meters high
984 foot span / 300 meter span
2015
The Karun River Bridge 4 crosses a deep arm of the giant Karun reservoir that was formed from the creation of the massive Karun 4 dam that opened in 2011. The Karun 4 Dam is one of a series of huge hydroelectric projects that have been built along the Karun River which has the greatest discharge of any river in Iran and is hence the most important power producing waterway in the country. The 230 meter tall double curvature Karun 4 Dam became the tallest in the country upon its completion in 2011 surpassing the 205 meter tall Karun 3 Dam. For a size comparison, the famous Hoover Dam near Las Vegas is slightly lower then Karun 4.
The 300 meter span of the Karun 4 Bridge is larger then the two similar arch crossings of the Karun 3 Dam lake.
A video showing the inauguration of Karun 4 Dam by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad can be seen below with more information on the entire Karun River hydroelectric development.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txmpL4-es48
The construction of Karun Bridge 4 was somewhat different than similar sized arches whereby a tower is usually erected on either side of the gorge and cables temporarily radiate out from it to support individual sections of the arch until the two halves are joined in the middle. With Karun, the roadway and support spandrels were built outward at the same time as the arch, eliminating the need for a high line. To prevent the two halves of the arch from falling into the gorge, several cables were attached from the road deck down to the arch within each spandrel panel. Once the next vertical spandrel support was built up to deck level and connected to another short span of roadway, then the arch rib was built out a little further and the process repeated itself. Once the two sides of the arch were closed in the middle, the temporary cable stays were no longer necessary though on the Karun spans they were left in place.
The new Karun 4 dam opened in 2011 as Iran's highest at 230 meters surpassing Karun 3 by 25 meters. Unlike the Karun 3 Dam, the reservoir behind Karun 4 was allowed to fill up before the dam was complete.
Karun 4 Dam Bridge satellite image.
Karun 4 Dam Bridge location map.