Spectacular Dams Around the World
The sight of a dam – one of the largest and most complex structures that humanity has ever created – can be quite breath-taking. Take a look at some of the most spectacular of these structures.
The Hoover Dam – USA
This was considered one of the marvels of the twentieth century when it was built and even though its size and energy generating capacity has been surpassed it is still possibly the most famous and iconic dam in the world. It was completed in 1936 and still has a gothic cum deco inspired feel to it which renders it art while many other dams simply have utility. It is named after President Hoover who has an instrumental role in its construction. It has been a national historic landmark in the United States since 1985. Its statistics are impressive as well – it is two hundred and twenty one meters high and has a thickness at its base of two hundred meters (fifteen at its crest). That is quite a lot of concrete. Over a hundred people died in its construction including a father and son – JG Tierney a surveyor (popular history maintains he was the first person to die). His son, Patrick W died thirteen years to the day later and is purported to be the last to die on the project.
Grande Dixence – Switzerland
Switzerland is by no means the largest country in Europe but its gas the highest on the continent. Its job is to hold back a lake – the Lac des Dix – and when full it is almost a thousand feet deep and contains more than four hundred million cubic meters of water. As for its altitude, how about an amazing 2365 meters? Strangely enough, the river upon which it is built is pretty small (the Dixence). However, water is collected in to a system of tunnels over one hundred kilometers in length which takes water from the river and from others. The water is mostly from glaciers. Filled in 1957, this current dam submerged the previous one which had stood since the nineteen twenties.
The Karun Dam – Iran
Whether or not you agree with the aims of the Iranian government to join the nuclear club (ostensibly to help with the massive power shortages of this populous nation) there can be no argument in terms of their attempts to meet the power demands of the country. The massive Karun 3 opened in 2005 and it does indeed go a long way to satiate the demand for electricity. It is just over four hundred and sixty meters in length and stands at a height of two hundred and five meters. It is an arch dam, which is perfect for that rocky, narrow gorge in which it was built. The curve is more than just an aesthetic feature – the arch forces the water to press downwards against the dam. This strengthens its foundations. Simply amazing.
Dworshak Dam – USA
Construction of the Dworshak dam began in 1966 and it was completed only six years later with the generators up and running in 1973. It was built in the state of Idaho about six kilometers away from the city of Orofino. It is the highest straight axis dam in the western world and at two hundred and nineteen meters in height is the third tallest dam in the United States. The reservoir that was formed behind the dam is over eighty kilometers in length.
The Inguri Dam – Georgia
Georgia is well known for being the birthplace of Stalin (by now you will have guessed we are not referring to one of the United States) and this dam was built at the height of Soviet engineering. Although started in the early sixties it did not become functional until the nineteen seventies. This notwithstanding, the dam is still the highest concrete arch dam in the world. It reaches two hundred and seventeen meters which is an astonishing eight hundred and ninety feet. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, when borders within the USSR were not really a problem, this dam found itself (still) inside the borders of Georgia. The hydroelectric power station, which is serves, however, is partially in the Republic of Abkhazia. Abkhazia and Georgia do not get on very well at all. Oops.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam – India
Built across the Krishna River in the Andrha Pradesh area of India, the Nargana Sagar towers at one hundred and twenty four meters in height and is able to hold almost twelve million cubic meters of water. This makes it the largest dam in Asia – at the moment. It is also one of the oldest. Construction began in 1956 but it was a long time before it became fully functioning. Modern construction equipment was not available in the fledgling democracy of India and so the dam was built with stone instead of concrete. As you can imagine this took some time and it was not until 1969 that the dam was completed and three years later that the crest gates were fitted in order to facilitate full usage. Up to seventy thousand people took part in its construction, with close to two hundred dying in dam related construction accidents.
Srisailam Dam
We will stay in India – and indeed the Krishna River, for now to visit the Srisailam Dam. It is part of the same project to bring hydroelectricity to the millions of people who live along the river and beyond. It is built in a huge gorge in the Mallamala hills and is over five hundred meters long. It may seem to be over icing the cake, but when you realize that the region in which it is situated is extremely prone to drought you begin to understand why size is sometimes important. Although this image is not perfect it is one of the few copyright free photos available of this dam – special permission is needed to go near it.
Glen Canyon – USA
The stunning landscapes of Colorado provide a back drop for the Glen Canyon dam, which is build on the Colorado River in Arizona. As might be guessed by the surroundings, the place is arid and the mission of the dam is to provide water storage for this particularly dry part of the United States. It stands at two hundred and sixteen meters high and the crest of its arch has is four hundred and seventy fie meters long. It has been criticized for the environmental impact it has had on the local flora and fauna but sustains large communities of people spread over three states.
Vajont – Italy
One hundred kilometers north of Venice there is the Vajont Dam, which was finished in 1959. One of the greatest dam tragedies of all time occurred in 1963 when the overtopped and a massive flood wiped several villages below the dam off the face of the earth and killed more than two thousand people. An enormous landslide fell in to the reservoir and displaced fifty million cubic meters of water. The wave that overtopped the dam has been estimated as over two hundred and fifty meters in height and the people below did not stand a chance. It has been cited as one of the five worst man made disasters (caused by geologist and engineer failure). It stands a more than impressive two hundred and sixty two meters high and is twenty seven meters thick at its base. Ironically when the dam overtopped it was itself left pretty much intact – only the top meter or so was destroyed.
Sayano-Shushenskaya – Russia
Ah, those Russians! The power plant that this dam supports is the fourth largest in the world and it was opened in 1978. Another example of the gravity arch dam, this one has a crest of almost eleven hundred meters in length. The arch itself is two hundred and forty five meters height. The dam itself forms a reservoir of the same name, which covers over thirty cubic kilometers and a surface area of over six hundred square kilometers. That is large, by any standards.
Almendra Dam – Spain
Salamaca, Spain is the home to the Almendra dam. It was named after the village of Almendra (which means Almond in Spanish) but, as with many of life’s little ironies, it interrupted the course of the river five kilometers away from the village. The reservoir behind the dam covers almost ninety square kilometers and this makes for a breathtaking view. At a height of just over two hundred meters it is one of the tallest structures in the whole of Spain.
Itaipu – Brazil
The Itaipu dam of Brazil is given its name from a small island that used to exist near the site and it means “the sound of a stone”. One can only imagine what the dam sounds like when it releases its water. The length of the dam is a staggering 7235 meters and at its highest it is two hundred and twenty five meters. To be fair to the other dams on this list, however, it is actually three dams joined together to make one enormous structure.
Three Gorges Dam – China
Although China has many of the world’s largest dams their reluctance to allow people to take pictures of them means that its most famous and accessible – the Three Gorges – is the only one to make this list. To facilitate its construction one and a quarter million people had to be relocated. Although spectacular it is thought that it has contributed greatly to the functional extinction of the Yangtze River Dolphin, a creature which had been around for several million years. With a final look at the Grande Dixence, at what price, we can only wonder, do all these amazing structures come?
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52 Responses to “Spectacular Dams Around the World”
On June 21, 2009 at 7:53 am
truly amazing dams,great engineering achievements
On June 21, 2009 at 8:19 am
So imposing and spectacular dams. Nice article
On June 21, 2009 at 9:21 am
Excellent post!!.This is really wonderful and amazing dams..Well presented article..I LOV it..well done and thanx a lot for sharing this great work.
On June 21, 2009 at 9:25 am
Impressive! We have some lovely dams here in Cyprus, they just need a little more water in them lately
On June 21, 2009 at 10:13 am
Wow! those are very impressive dams and you presented it all too clear.
On June 21, 2009 at 10:22 am
Very interesting and well explained as usual. There are impressive dams in France too.
Very best wishes,
François
On June 21, 2009 at 10:29 am
Impressive pictures and interesting article.
On June 21, 2009 at 10:54 am
Interesting article. Did you know that the imposed weight of the Hoover Dam is calculated to have deflected the earth’s crust below it?
On June 21, 2009 at 11:12 am
Nice information and pictures.
On June 21, 2009 at 11:16 am
J/k Dam and damn almost similar to be written.
On June 21, 2009 at 11:34 am
Fascinating subject to me. Did not know about Grande Dixence in Switzerland but environmentalists have successfully fought off damning the Rhine River in Switzerland for well over 100 years.
On June 21, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Damn nice presentation!
On June 21, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Love it! Very cool!
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
On June 21, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Well written.
On June 21, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Very interesting and informative article. Thanks for the read.
On June 21, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Fascinating, and all the more so because of the photos. Thanks for a great read. RB
On June 21, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I’ve only been to Hoover Dam so far, but the rest look incredible, too! Hopefully I can visit some day. Well done review!
On June 21, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Good article. I think it is worth mentioning Asia’s biggest dam here. The bhakra nangal dam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakra-Nangal_Dam
On June 21, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Huges dam around the world..Well researched.
On June 21, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Dams benefit people.. they destroy the environment and animal habitat, and thanks for pointing out they have darn near caused an extinction.
On June 21, 2009 at 11:39 pm
So what you are saying, is that if I get a camera I should sneak around China taking pictures of their other dams?
On June 22, 2009 at 10:32 am
WOW!HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU GET SUCH GREAT PICS!!!!!? Brilliant is your piece and awesome are your pics.marvelously interesting-I unexpectedly enjoyed reading this.More grease to your elbow
On June 22, 2009 at 11:58 am
What a great article! I loved your conversational style and the pictures were so impressive. This one gets bookmarked!
On June 22, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Nice pics except for those with the lens flares.
On June 22, 2009 at 12:53 pm
A very nice article…it’s quite a tour around the world..the pictures you have given are as vivid as your words to describe the dams..
On June 22, 2009 at 4:13 pm
You forgot Manic 5…
Manic-5 – Daniel-Johnson dam
Open from June 24 to Labour Day
The Largest in the World
Manic 5, or Daniel Johnson dam, which is located more than 200 kilometres from Baie-Comeau, is the largest multiple-arch-and-buttress dam in the world. It was given the name Daniel-Johnson in honour of the Quebec premier of the time, who passed away on the morning of the inauguration in 1968.
This dam has a 141.8-metre-high fall (463 feet) and feeds both the Manic 5 and Manic 5 PA generating stations to produce 2,600 MW. The reservoir of this huge dam is no other than the Manicouagan reservoir, which is one of the largest meteorite craters in the world, in the middle of which stands the René-Levasseur Island.
A good picture here:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Barrage_Manic5.png
On June 22, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Very nice, you included some dams I didn’t even know, and I am somewhat of a dam-enthusiast
Great work!
On June 23, 2009 at 4:36 am
perfect sir
On June 23, 2009 at 9:23 am
As usual, well done.
On June 23, 2009 at 3:18 pm
No Grand Coulee? WTF? It’s the largest concrete structure in the US, not to mention the largest power plant. AND its span is over a mile. Hoover always hogs the glory, just for being tall.
On June 23, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Dams are spectacular. i don’t understna how you can build one of these
On June 24, 2009 at 4:31 am
Just absolutely amazing to see them all like this! Some of the water-levels are outrageous. This is composed and written spectacularly! Liz
On June 24, 2009 at 8:54 am
Truly beautifully photos, I never realized that there were so many across the globe. It goes to show the massive power of water, and the need to control it, harness it for power.
Great reading
On June 24, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Belas imagens.
On June 24, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Simply spectacular x
On June 24, 2009 at 6:47 pm
do u know amsterDAM ?
On June 24, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Impressive pictures, interesting article and a great pitombo.
On June 24, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Cool Pics
On June 25, 2009 at 6:06 pm
amazing pics! it was a great find!
check out some of my stuff too when you have some time!
On June 25, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Such huge and awe-inspiring photos. Your written comments/content is also spectacular. Again, I would love to see this dam in the future. Janet
On June 26, 2009 at 3:15 am
a_w_e_s_o_m_e
On June 26, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Very nice I liked you article and the pictures were spectacular. Stop by and check put my poetry sometime and let me know what you think
On June 26, 2009 at 5:46 pm
wow,I didn’t know that it existed so much beautiful dams
On June 26, 2009 at 10:46 pm
wow!..what beautiful dams and what a great article…you are da bomb
On July 7, 2009 at 5:49 am
i like the Srisailam Dam, another great article!
On July 12, 2009 at 4:07 am
Excellent piece.
On July 31, 2009 at 6:27 am
unbelievably terrific and breathtakingly beautiful pictures .Must say truly awe inspiring.
Jaishree
On August 13, 2009 at 4:13 pm
boreing
On August 17, 2009 at 12:08 am
Good job for the great pics.
Magnificently built. We now have to rethink its contribution to humanity.
On October 3, 2009 at 12:12 am
Nice collection of Pictures.
On October 3, 2009 at 7:39 am
man made marvels
On October 23, 2009 at 2:15 pm
what a wonderful………… construction
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