Marathon lake
| Marathon lake | |||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 38 ° 10 '8 " N , 23 ° 53' 44" E | ||||||||||
| Data on the structure | |||||||||||
| Lock type: | Gravity dam | ||||||||||
| Construction time: | 1926-1929 | ||||||||||
| Height of the barrier structure : | 54 m | ||||||||||
| Crown width: | 4.5 m | ||||||||||
| Base width: | 28 m | ||||||||||
| Data on the reservoir | |||||||||||
| Water surface | 2.45 km² | ||||||||||
| Storage space | 41 million m³ | ||||||||||
| Catchment area | 118 km² | ||||||||||
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The Marathon Lake ( Greek Λίμνη Μαραθώνος Limni Marathónos also Limni Marathóna Λίμνη Μαραθώνα) is a reservoir near the Greek city of Marathon in Attica , not far from the capital Athens . Mainly the Charadros and Varnavas watercourses are dammed up in the lake and are mainly used to supply water to the metropolis of Athens.
The water in the lake
At the level of the dam's overflow, the lake has an area of 2.45 square kilometers and its maximum depth is 54 meters. With an average rainfall of 580 millimeters per year, 14.4 million cubic meters flow out of the lake from a catchment area of 118 square kilometers. The maximum storage volume is 41 million cubic meters. 520 cubic meters of water per second can flow through the overflow.
The dam
The Marathon Lake gravity dam is made of concrete and is the only one of its kind in the world to be clad with Pentelic marble , a type of rock that was also used in the construction of the Parthenon and other structures on the Acropolis in Athens. Its height is 54 meters from the base to the crown. It is 28 meters wide at the base and 4.5 meters at the top. A road leads over the Krone, but it can only be used in one direction. Traffic through the bottleneck is regulated with a set of traffic lights.
Building history
After the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), many people of Greek origin in Asia Minor had to leave their homeland and immigrate to Greece. The population increased particularly around Athens and consequently the need for water. An American company built the reservoir near Marathon between 1926 and 1929, which was supposed to carry the main load of Athens' water supply from 1931 to 1959. From 1959, more water was brought in from Lake Yliki in Boeotia , and from 1981 from the Mornos reservoir in Fokida in Central Greece .