A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect or store water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.
The Mangla Dam is a multipurpose dam situated on the Jhelum River in the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the sixth-largest dam in the world. The village of Mangla, which sits at the mouth of the dam, serves as its namesake. In November 1961, the project's selected contractors were revealed; it was announced that Binnie & Partners, a British engineering firm, was going to serve as the lead designers, engineers, and inspectors for the construction of the dam. The project was undertaken by a consortium known as the Mangla Dam Contractors, which consisted of eight American construction firms sponsored by the Guy F. Atkinson Company based in South San Francisco, California.
The Dez Dam, formerly known as Mohammad-Reza Shah Pahlavi Dam, before 1979 Revolution, is an arch dam on the Dez River in the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Iran. It is about 23 km of Andimeshk city. It was built between 1959 and 1963 under the rule of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, with contacting an Italian consortium and is owned by the Khuzestan Water & Power Authority. The dam is 203 metres (666 ft) high, making it one of the highest in the country, and has a reservoir capacity of 3,340,000,000 m3 (2,710,000 acre⋅ft). At the time of construction the Dez Dam was Iran's biggest development project. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and irrigation. It has an associated 520 MW power station and its reservoir helps irrigate up to 80,500 ha of farmland. US$42 million of the cost to construct the dam came from the World Bank.
The Contra Dam, commonly known as the Verzasca Dam and the Locarno Dam, is an arch dam on the Verzasca River in the Val Verzasca of Ticino, Switzerland. The dam creates Lago di Vogorno 2 km (1.2 mi) upstream of Lake Maggiore and supports the 105 MW Verzasca hydroelectric power station. It was constructed between 1961 and 1965 and starting shortly after its reservoir was filled, a series of earthquakes related to its water load occurred until 1971. The dam is owned and operated by Verzasca SA and is the fourth tallest in Switzerland.
The Xiluodu Dam is an arch dam on the Jinsha River, i.e. the upper course of the Yangtze in China. It is located near the town of Xiluodu in Yongshan County of Yunnan Province but the dam straddles into Leibo County of Sichuan Province on the opposite side of the river. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and its power station has an installed capacity of 13,860 MW. Additionally, the dam provides for flood control, silt control and its regulated water releases are intended to improve navigation downstream. Construction on the dam and power station began in 2005 and the first generator was commissioned in 2013, the last in 2014. It is operated by China Yangtze Power and is currently the fourth-largest power station in the world, as well as the fifth tallest dam world-wide.
The Xiaowan Dam is an arch dam on the Lancang (Mekong) River in Nanjian County, Yunnan Province in southwest China. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports a 4,200 MW power station. Constructed between 2002 and 2010 by Huaneng Power International at a cost of ¥32 billion, it is the world's second highest arch dam at 292 m (958 ft). It is also third highest among dams of all types behind Jinping-I and Nurek and the third largest hydroelectric power station in China.
The Tsankov Kamak Hydroelectric Power Plant, also Tsankov Kamak HPP, comprises an arch dam and hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in Tsankov Kamak, southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated on the Vacha River in Smolyan Province, on the borders of Pazardzhik Province and Plovdiv Province, roughly 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Plovdiv and downstream (north) of the town of Devin. It is a part of the Dospat-Vacha cascade development of the Vacha River involving five dams and power stations within the Devin municipality, 250 kilometres (160 mi) southeast of Sofia. The other four dams are Dospat Dam, Teshel Dam, the Vacha Dam and the Krichim Dam.
The Darbandikhan Dam is a multi-purpose embankment dam on the Diyala River in northern Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. It was constructed between 1956 and 1961. The purpose of the dam is irrigation, flood control, hydroelectric power production and recreation. Due to poor construction and neglect, the dam and its 249 MW power station have undergone several repairs over the years. A rehabilitation of the power station began in 2007 and was completed in 2013.
Deriner Dam is a concrete double-curved arch dam on the Çoruh River 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Artvin in Artvin Province, Turkey. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and additionally flood control. Construction on the dam began in 1998, the reservoir began to fill in February 2012 and the power station was completed by February 2013. It will have a 670 MW power house and is the tallest dam in Turkey. The dam is being implemented by Turkey's State Hydraulic Works and constructed by a consortium of Turkish, Russian and Swiss companies.
Aldeadávila Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Duero River in Spain, near the border with Portugal. The nearest town is Aldeadávila de la Ribera in the Province of Salamanca, about 11.3 kilometres (7.0 mi) to the east. The nearest Portuguese town is Fornos in Bragança District, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the southwest. The Portuguese side of the river around the dam site lies within the Arribes del Duero Natural Park.
The Kölnbrein Dam is an arch dam in the Hohe Tauern range within Carinthia, Austria. It was constructed between 1971 and 1979 and at 200 metres (660 ft) high, it is the tallest dam in Austria. The dam's reservoir serves as the primary storage in a three-stage pumped-storage power system that consists of nine dams, four hydroelectric power plants and a series of pipeline and penstocks. The complex is owned by Verbund power company and is referred to as the Malta-Reisseck Power Plant Group. The installed capacity of the group is 1,028.5 MW and its annual generation is 1,216 gigawatt-hours (4,380 TJ).
The Longyangxia Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam at the entrance of the Longyangxia canyon on the Yellow River in Gonghe County, Qinghai Province, China. The dam is 178 metres (584 ft) tall and was built for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, ice control and flood control. The dam supports a 1,280 MW power station with 4 x 320 MW generators that can operate at a maximum capacity of 1400 MW. Controlling ice, the dam controls downstream releases to reservoirs lower in the river, allowing them to generate more power instead of mitigating ice. Water in the dam's 24.7 billion m3 reservoir provides irrigation water for up to 1,000,000 hectares of land.
Lake Cachi is an artificial lake in central Costa Rica created by the Cachí Dam, an arch dam north of Tapantí National Park, to the east-southeast of Cartago in Cartago Province. The main town is Cachí, away from the east bank of the lake. Built in the 1970s, it was one of the first hydroelectric projects in Costa Rica. It has an installed capacity of 102 MW with three units of 34 MW capacity each.
The Otori Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Tadami River, 17 km (11 mi) southwest of Tadami in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports a 182 MW power station. The power station contains two Kaplan turbine-generators. Unit 1 was commissioned on 20 November 1963 while Unit 2 was commissioned on 7 June 2003 as part of a power plant expansion project that included an additional 200 MW generator at Okutadami Dam upstream. The dam is 83 m (272 ft) tall and 188 m (617 ft) long. Its reservoir has a 15,800,000 m3 (12,809 acre⋅ft) capacity of which 5,000,000 m3 (4,054 acre⋅ft) is active for power generation. The reservoir has a catchment area of 656.9 km2 (254 sq mi) and surface area of 89 ha. Of the two generators, Unit 1 has a maximum effective hydraulic head of 50.8 m (167 ft) and Unit 2 is afforded 48.1 m (158 ft). The design flood discharge of the dam is 2,200 m3/s (77,692 cu ft/s) and its service spillway is controlled by three tainter gates.
The Dongjiang Dam is an arch dam on the Lishui River 14 km (9 mi) southwest of Zixing in Hunan Province, China. The dam was constructed between 1978 and 1992 and supports a 500 MW hydroelectric power station. The dam also provides for flood control, navigation and water supply. The dam's first generator was operational in 1987 and the reservoir, Dongjiang Lake, forced the relocation of 52 thousand people.
The Fengtan Dam is an arch-gravity dam on the You River, located 48 km (30 mi) southeast of Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province, China. The purpose of the multi-purpose dam is flood control, irrigation, power generation and navigation. The dam has a power station with an installed capacity of 800 MW and provides water for the irrigation of 44 km2 (17 sq mi). Construction on the dam began in 1970 and the first generator was operational in 1978. All four of the original generators were operational by 1979. A power plant expansion project began in 2001 and in 2004 two additional 200 MW generators were commissioned.
The Longshou II Dam, also referred to as Longshou No. 2, is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Heihe River, located 35 km (22 mi) southwest of Zhangye in Gansu Province, China. It is part of the Gansu Heihe Rural Hydropower Development and supports a 157 MW power station. The dam's first feasibility study was carried out in 2000 and river diversion construction began in December 2001. In June 2002, the river was diverted and in September that year, filling of the dam's body began. On 17 August 2004, the first generator was operational with the rest by the end of the year. The 146.5 m (481 ft) high dam withholds a reservoir with a capacity of 86,200,000 m3 (69,883 acre⋅ft). It's spillway is located on the right bank and is a controlled chute type with a discharge capacity of 2,696 m3/s (95,208 cu ft/s). Water is delivered to the dam's power station downstream via a 1.7 km (1 mi) long tunnel. The dam is located upstream of the Longshou I Dam, an 80 m (262 ft) tall double-curvature arch dam with an installed capacity of 52 MW. Upstream is the Xiaogushan Dam, a gravity dam which diverts water to a 102 MW power station.
The Daguangba Dam is a multi-purpose dam on the Changhua River in Hainan Province, China. It is located 35 km (22 mi) east of Dongfang. As the primary component of the Daguangba Multipurpose Project, the dam was constructed between 1990 and 1995. It serves to provide water for both hydroelectric power generation and agriculture. It supports a 240 MW power station and supplies water for the irrigation of 12,700 ha. It is also the largest dam and hydroelectric power station in Hainan.
Alto Lindoso Dam is a concrete double curvature arch dam on the Lima River. It is located in the municipality Ponte da Barca, in Viana do Castelo District, Portugal. The dam lies in Peneda-Gerês National Park close to the border with Spain. The reservoir created by the dam is known as Alto Lindoso reservoir or Lindoso reservoir.
Bolarque Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Tagus in Spain, where the river forms the border between the provinces of Cuenca and Guadalajara. About 6 km downstream from the dam is the José Cabrera Nuclear Power Station.
