This year marks the 60th anniversary of the completion of the Kurobe Dam, and various events are being held at the dam. In Omachi City, where Ogisawa Station, the entrance to the Nagano side of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, is located, the tourist association is taking the lead in promoting the Kurobe Dam with events.
It is a mystery why the excitement is not on the Toyama side where the dam is located, but it must be because Omachi City was the front line base for the construction of the Kurobe Dam. Ogisawa is more accessible.
Among them, I paid particular attention to the "Kurobe Dam Tour," which was held on August 3 (Thursday), 8/8 (Tuesday), 8/22 (Tuesday), and 8/28 (Monday), as a special event limited to Kuroyon's 60th anniversary. This is a chance to visit the audit corridor and other facilities inside the embankment of the Kurobe Dam! This is the area that Mr. Tamori visited on "Bratamori".
Moreover, August 8 was a special vacation for the anniversary of the founding of my main business company, so I applied for the job with that date as my main target and was able to successfully beat the high competition of 20 times.
Ogisawa Station
And here we are at Ogisawa Station. I realized that it had been 9 years since my last visit. Kurobe Dam is not easy to visit because it costs a tremendous amount of money just to move from one place to another.
There was a digital stamp rally, but it was not related to the 60th anniversary and had been held before. The Kurobe Dam original goods that could be obtained by collecting all the stamps were paper crafts of electric buses. I would have liked a paper craft of the embankment anyway.
As usual, the Kurobe Dam (or rather the Alpine Route?) was very popular and passengers were already lining up.
Departure from Ogisawa Station!
Kurobe Dam Station
Arrival! What? No pictures of the crush zone? Yes, sorry I couldn't sit in the front row and take very good pictures. Let's go to the site by all means, lol.
To the Observation Deck
When you come to Kurobe Dam, you also see structures other than the embankment.
Despite it being a weekday, there were quite a few visitors. The restrictions by Corona have been eased, and there were a few foreign tourists as well. This is the third time I have visited Kurobe Dam in my life, but it was the first time I saw the blue sky.
I looked at the vending machine for a drink, but it was as high as the embankment of the Kurobe Dam.
It seems that every Wednesday in August, an event was held at the Kurobe Dam Observation Deck Rest Area where restaurants offering dam curry in Nagano Prefecture served Kurobe Dam Curry. Unfortunately, it was a Tuesday, so we had to give up. But...I don't have enough allowance to come to Kurobe Dam every week, lol.
Omatase shimashita! This is the Kurobe Dam! This is an often seen angle, but still, the Kurobe Dam is wonderful. It is a crystallization of the wisdom of mankind, and it is truly wonderful.
Comparing it with a person, you can really understand its enormity. And when I think that I am about to enter that embankment, my heart is pounding with anticipation, whether I want to admit it or not.
We moved to the middle of the observatory and the new observatory. The concrete bucket and the cable crane wire, which cannot be removed in the construction of the Kurobe Dam. I would have liked to see them flying in the air. Incidentally, there is a "hidden Kanden mark" lurking in the photo. It may be a little hard to see in the photo, but please try to find it there.
To the new observatory
Continue on to the new observatory.
Kurobe Dam is often referred to as an arch dam, but it is actually a combined arch and gravity dam. The wing sections on the left and right banks are gravity-type dams that support water pressure under their own weight, while the central section between the two is an arch-type dam.
Originally planned as an arch-type structure, it was halfway through construction, but following the 1959 collapse of the Malpasset Dam in France, a reexamination of the bedrock on both banks revealed that it was more brittle than expected, and the plan was changed to include wing sections even while construction was in progress.
This makes it a rare example of a composite dam in Japan in which the gravity-type wing section supports the dam instead of the bedrock on either side. The other known arch dam with wing sections is the Osako Dam in Nara Prefecture (located only on the right bank).
Arrival at the new observatory. The Kurobe Dam is unique in that it is wonderful from any angle.
A rainbow over the sightseeing discharge (water discharge) is a nice touch.
At a special venue in the new observation plaza, panel displays and video works were shown as "The Story of Kurobe.
It looks like a set from the movie "Kurobe no Taiyo", but is it real?
In the back of the room, a video work called "The Story of Kurobe" was being shown. It was just about to start, so I watched it all the way through. I would also like to see it sold on DVD or BD.
To the right bank dam site
It may be the most famous dam memorial in Japan. It is dedicated to the "Honorable Mihashira. My son was with me this time, and we both joined hands in prayer. It is only because of the precious sacrifices that we are able to visit the dam in this way.
I took the photo below casually, but it turned out later that they were actually the two people who would be attending the tour later in the day.
I guess there must have been some people who went in saying, "Dam card, please! I wondered if the Kurobe Dam card was planned and distributed by the Omachi City Tourist Association rather than KEPCO. When I visit the Kurobe Dam again, I can smell the smell of Omachi City here and there.
Now, it is time to meet, so we will head to the 3rd floor of the rest house where we will meet.
Finally, the 60th anniversary of Kurobe Dam special tour!
We checked in and borrowed helmets.
From the Kurobe Dam Station, proceed through the Kanden Tunnel in the opposite direction (toward Omachi) from the observatory. I am thrilled and excited.
It is not yet an audit corridor of the dam, just an off-limits area of the Kanden Tunnel, but it is strangely exciting.
As you proceed through the Kanden Tunnel toward Omachi, you will come to a simple door with no writing on it. This is where the visitors learn about the Kurobe Dam and hydroelectric power generation in advance.
We also watched a video titled "Trajectory of Hydroelectric Power Generation: Challenges of an Unchanging Mission". Although it was a digest version due to time constraints during the tour, the full version is also available on YouTube.
The tunnel digging is beautifully recreated.
The photo below was not explained, but I guess it is the backpack used by the bokka to carry materials at the time of construction. 20k is written as the weight, I think. I only took a picture of it, but it would have been nice to experience it by carrying it on my back.
Each visitor looked here and there as they were free to do so until it was time to go back. Incidentally, the "Chemical Tunnel" may have been so named because this is where the testing of chemicals used in the pouring of concrete was conducted.
After a quick look at the chemical tunnel, we went to the inside of the Kurobe Dam, a fun place to visit!
Yes, this is the end of the photos. During the tour this time, the only places in the levee where pictures could be taken were the areas indicated, and uploading to social networking sites was strictly forbidden. I am sorry if you have been reading this because you wanted to see it.
But it was so good, I could see the Kurobe River without abatement below me, just a little bit of my body on the catwalk through the door located in the middle of the two Howell Banger valves. And water released from both sides. I will never forget the sight that I was not even allowed to take a picture of and had to burn it into my eyes.
The audit corridor was stately and full of history. We were also shown the plumb line right in front of us and visited the site where the rock test was conducted. What we saw was exactly what was behind the construction of the Kurobe Dam. The rock test was a test to prove that the bedrock was safe after the aforementioned accident at the Malpasset Dam, since the dam was financed by the World Bank at the time of construction.
It was an extraordinary experience, and I am very sorry that I cannot explain it here with pictures. It is also frustrating that I can't convey the impression from the text.
However, in 2013, Mr. Hagiwara introduced them with photos on Daily Portal Z. Please see here.
At the time of the 50th anniversary, people other than Mr. Hagiwara had no problem taking photos and uploading them to the Internet, so it can't be helped that the person in charge is different from back then, but I thought it was a waste of a chance to let various people know the other side of Kurobe Dam.... During the tour, we were asked to fill out a questionnaire about our impressions of the tour, but we noted our request to take photos and upload them to SNS.
Then why don't you formally apply for coverage as a dammeister? You might think, "Why don't you just formally apply for coverage as a dammeister? I don't even know if it would be acceptable to begin with. So, my stance is to wait for them to approach me steadily. (Although sometimes I do go on the offensive.)
After the tour
Instead....I would like to say that this is a view of the sightseeing water discharge from the top edge. It would be nice if I could include a view from a lower position....
After the tour, we tried to have lunch at the restaurant in the rest house, but it was too crowded and we had to temporarily withdraw. We will pass the time by going back and forth to around the Garbe boarding area of the tourist boat on the left bank.
Then we finally got seated and had lunch a little before 2pm. Son is a sweetheart.dam curryThe following is a list of the most common problems with the
I ordered the 60th anniversary arch dam curry. What is the 60th anniversary? I wonder where it is...lol...
We had lunch and left Kurobe Dam. I would like to take a special tour again in 10 years? I would like to participate in a special tour even in the next 10 years. I hope to be able to take pictures again then.
bonus
We checked into a hotel in front of Omachi Station and moved on for dinner. The shopping district in front of Omachi Station was celebrating the 60th anniversary of Kurobe Dam.
For dinner, we went to Komatsu Udon, a restaurant offering Kurobe Dam Curry. Since it is an udon restaurant, I chose Kurobe Dam Curry Udon instead of Dam Curry. It was very hearty, but delicious.
Komatsudon store seems to be the restaurant where Sazae-san used to eat dam curry in the OP. Is this the place where it was modeled?
These are the souvenirs I brought this time. The clear file for the 60th anniversary of Kurobe Dam was an impulse buy. I also wanted to buy a T-shirt that was worn by the Omachi City Tourist Association who attended this special tour, but I had spent a lot of money this time, so I decided against it. Such souvenirs are also unique to Kurobe Dam, aren't they?
The actual accommodations we stayed in this time
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