The ARA Prize Club visits the futuristic columned hall hidden inside the Susqueda dam

Search Takeover (Osor)A fallen tree blocks the small road leading from Pasteral to the Susqueda dam. A landscape suspended in time. Luckily, some workers are already tightening it, just in time to arrive punctually at 11:00 AM in front of the magnificent double-curved intake. Unlike Sau, in 1967, a unique engineering feat in Spain was inaugurated: curved both horizontally and vertically. Xavier Jou, the Enel manager for the area, recounts it with palpable emotion. Along with Toni Morilla, we will visit the interior of the dam with about thirty subscribers of the ARA Premium Club who say they feel very "lucky".

It's a rather unusual visit, arranged from the report that Daniel Romaní did in the summer Within the series published in ARA about spaces associated with water engineering in Catalonia, with the support of the Catalan Agency for Cultural Heritage of the Generalitat. Now Enel only opens its doors occasionally to groups of architects, engineers, or students so they can learn about an infrastructure that was pioneering at the time. The aim is also to clearly explain what they do "to dispel fake news that circulate on the networks," says Jou, who says that the Catalan Water Agency (ACA) has a very strict schedule for when they can extract water from the reservoir to generate electricity.

After a half-hour technical explanation, we put on hard hats, split into two groups, and prepare to enter the heart of the Susqueda Dam. We'll walk the 360 meters of the Ter River's right bank on the left. This can be done through seven horizontal galleries and a perimeter tunnel in the shape of a low tunnel that descends to the valley floor. It's made entirely of concrete, without any rebar, so it can expand and contract and adapt to movement. These days, everything is monitored, and no workers are present, just like at the power plant.

One subscriber leaves her dog tied up outside so she can go in. Another, upon seeing the galleries, decides to turn back. It can be quite claustrophobic, especially when Jou shows us the cable that runs to the bottom of the dam to detect any significant movement. However, it's reassuring to see that everything is constantly monitored. This includes the joints between the concrete blocks, which are the dam's weakest point.

The tour has a grand finale: the Hall of Columns. Who would have thought that such a great treasure was hidden at one end of Susqueda? hall Futuristic, made entirely of concrete, it could be the cover of a magazine. Like everything else in the dam and the power plant, it's the work of Arturo Rebollo, an engineer from Zamora. I say engineer, but he could also be called an architect and a graduate in geological sciences, art history, anthropology, philosophy, aesthetics, and geological engineering. In total, seven university degrees.

The work of a complete artist

Rebollo managed to convince others to build a dam unlike any other in Spain in the 1960s. He was a complete designer, with the soul of a Renaissance artist. He also created the monument to the builders—1,000 people in total—and to the 33 who died. Even in his nineties, he still visited the columned hall with his son. Jou remembers how he explained that when the formwork for the spiral staircase was being removed from the concrete, nobody wanted to walk underneath it.

The Hall of Columns is a testament to how engineering, architecture, and aesthetics can go hand in hand. Hyperbolic columns with five support points help to distribute the weight from the base, with lighting perfectly adapted to create an even more striking effect. Furthermore, they are arranged so that they appear parallel upon exiting the dam, but side by side and in depth upon entering through an impressive staircase.

Jou bids us farewell, passing through the dam. The reservoir is over 80% full. Sau, on the other hand, has dropped in recent weeks. There's a lack of rain this autumn, but it's not noticeable there. It's a clear example of a system formed by three reservoirs essential for Barcelona's water supply. Now, with desalination, perhaps less so. But equally vital for our daily lives.