Monument to technology engineering - “Porozhsky waterworks”

“The facility is in disrepair, life-threatening” - this sign is seen by tourists who decided to visit the ancient Porogi dam. But more precisely, the “Thresholds” is a former industrial complex that includes a hydroelectric power station and a ferroalloy plant. This is one of the most famous attractions of the Chelyabinsk region, a monument of history and culture.

This amazing place is located on the Bolshaya Satka River in the Chelyabinsk Region. Big Satka flows out of Lake Zyuratkul and flows into the Ai River. It is considered the river with the largest elevation differences in the Chelyabinsk region. Before the dam was built on this section of the river, there were two rapids with plums up to four meters high. Among the locals, the place was considered bad, diabolical - there were legends that the devils were found here, for which he was nicknamed the Devil's Pit. Also, nearby in the coastal rocks there was a raw material necessary for the plant - deposits of quartzite iron ore.

The complex was built quickly, especially for that time, in just two years - from 1908 to 1910. They built the latest technology mainly with foreign equipment. The building was supervised by engineer Alexander Filippovich Schuppe.

July 1, 1910, the power plant gave the first current. And already on July 12, the first batch of products was received, and on August 24, the first experimental smelting of ferrochrome weighing 954 kilograms was released. About 200 people worked at the plant. A small working town was built next to the dam to accommodate them.

Ferroalloys are alloys of iron with rare metals. For example, with chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, silicon. They are obtained at very high temperatures in special smelting furnaces. This achieves greater strength of steels and heat resistance.

The dam is completely built of wild stone. The width was about 12.5 meters at the foot and 4.2 meters along the ridge. The total length of the hydraulic structure is 125 meters, the length of the spillway is 70 meters, and the height is 21 meters. It is believed that the Porozhskaya HPP is the only enterprise of its kind not distorted by the reconstruction of the Soviet era. The dam and equipment have survived to this day almost unchanged.

After the revolution, the plant was nationalized, production stopped. They restarted it only after almost 10 years - in 1928 the Porogi complex was transferred to the Satka Metallurgical Plant. In the 60s, furnaces were redesigned to produce fused refractories. The plant existed until the beginning of the XXI century. The last heat took place in December 2000.

Until recently, the Porozhskaya Hydroelectric Power Station continued to operate, generating electricity for the villages of Porogi and Stroyroyka - there simply was no other source of electricity. If there wasn’t enough water in the pond or the equipment broke down, local residents lost electricity.

A new power line was extended to these parts several years ago. The need for the Porozhsky hydroelectric complex has disappeared, and in 2017 the Porozhskaya hydroelectric power station was closed forever.

Today, the techno-architecture monument has the status of a monument of regional significance - by the decision of the Satka City Executive Committee on August 12, 1987, the Thresholds were declared a complex (natural-historical) natural monument and taken under state protection. By Decree of the Chelyabinsk Regional Duma No. 378 of February 15, 1996, the Porogi complex was declared a historical and cultural monument of regional significance.

In 1993, the Porogi complex was included in the application for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List of Industrial Heritage Sites, but the matter did not go further than applying. Now the hydropower facilities require repairs, which are estimated at more than 1 billion rubles.

The inscription on the memorial tablet -
Zagnoiko Victor Vladimirovich
01/30/1948 - 04/19/2014
An engineer with a capital letter.
A man with a huge heart.
From 1998 to 2014 he maintained and serviced at his own expense a monument of science and technology "Porozhsky waterworks"