Interesting Facts
15 Tallest Dams in The World
The dams are built mainly for flood protection. They are also used as a source of water and energy. Here is a list of the largest operating water dams in the world.
MoreThe first ancient dams were built in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. They were used to control the water levels of the Tigris and Euphrates, which became unpredictable during heavy rainfall. The Quatinah dam in Syria is considered to be the oldest dam still existing today. Its construction dates back to the reign of Egyptian pharaoh Sethi (1319 – 1304 B.C.). Later the dam was enlarged by the Romans and nowadays in 1934-38. The dam is fed by the Orontes River and forms the Homs Lake, supplying the city of Homs through the canals. The dam is 23 ft high, 66 ft wide at the base and 1.2 mi long.
Landslide Usoj. Lake Sarez on the right, smaller Lake Shadau on the leftThe highest dam is considered to be Usoj in eastern Tajikistan. It is a rock slide created in 1911 as a result of an earthquake. The natural dam formed in this way, with a height of 1860 ft, partitioned the river flowing in the valley, starting a process of Sarez Lake formation. The Usoj, as a naturally formed dam, is not included in the following list, which only includes man-made dams.
Solina Dam, the highest dam in PolandThe list also does not include dams under construction, such as Shuangjiangkou (planned deadline for completion in 2018) in China with an estimated height of 1024 ft or Bakhtiari in Iran with a height of 1033 ft.
For comparison, the highest dam in Poland is located in Podkarpackie Voivodeship on Solina Lake and measures 269 ft, followed by Pilchowice dam (226 ft) high and Czorsztyn dam (197 ft).
Below is a list of the 15 highest water dams in the world:
15Mica
Mica - CanadaThe Mica rock-filled dam, operating since 1973, is located on the Columbia River in southwestern Canada.
14Alberto Llerast
The Alberto Lleras dam (named after the President of Colombia), also known as the Embalse del Guavio is located on the Guavio River in Colombia. It has been in use since 1989. The dam (Gachala) is located about 81 mi and 4 hours’ drive from Bogota.
13Deriner
Image by dsi.gov.trOperational since 2012, the Deriner dam (Deriner Barajı) is located on the Çoruh River, about 3.1 mi from Artvin in north-eastern Turkey.
12Laxiwa
Image by hydropower.org.cnLaxiwa dam is located on the Yellow River in the western province of China – Qinghai. It has been operating since 2009.
11Mauvoisin
Barrage de Mauvoisin by copetan. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsThe Mauvoisin dam, operating since 1957, is located in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
10Tehri
The Tehri dam is the largest dam in India. It is located on the Bhagirathi River in the north of Uttarakhand. It has been operating since 2006.
9Nuozhadu
Image by International Rivers.orgThe Nuozhaduz dam is located on the Mekong River in southwestern China (Yunnan Province). It has been operating since 2012.
8Chicoasén
The Chicoasén dam (known as the Manuela Moreno Torresa dam) is located on the Grijalva River near the city of Chicoasén in southern Mexico. The dam was opened in 1980.
7Vajont
Image by Frisia Orientalis. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia CommonsOperating since 1959, the Vajont dam is located in the Dolomites in the Friuli-Venezia region in northern Italy, about 62 mi north of Venice. It is known for the 1963 catastrophe, which killed about 2000 people.
6Inguri
Enguridam by The Regional Administration of Mingrelia - Georgia. Wikimedia CommonsThe Inguri dam was opened in 1987. It is located on the Inguri River in the polythene of the city of Jvari in north-western Georgia.
5Grande Dixence
Dixence-Staumauer by Roland Zumbühl / Wikimedia CommonsThe Grande Dixence dam is located above the valley of Val d’Hérens in the Swiss canton of Valais. It has been in operation since 1964.
4Xiluodu
Image by China International Water and Electric CorporationThe Xiluodu dam is located on the Jinsha River in the south-western part of China (Yunnan). It has been operating since 2013.
3Xiaowan
Image by International Rivers.orgOperational since 2010, the Xiaowan dam is located on the Mekong River in Yunnan Province, China. It is estimated that the cost of construction consumed about 3.9 billion USD, 32.7 thousand people were displaced and an area the size of Warsaw was flooded.
2Nurek
Nurek Dam by Ibrahim Rustamov (Ibrahimjon) / Wikimedia CommonsThe Nurek dam (Tajik: Нерӯгоҳи обии Норак, Nerūgohi obii Norak) located in a deep gorge on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan. It is located about 47 mi east of the capital Dushanbe (Душанбе). About 1.9 mi from the dam, there is a twenty-thousandth city of Norak (Tajik: Норак). The dam has been operating since 1972.
1Jinping-I
The Jinping-I dam on the Yalong River (a tributary of the Yangtze River) in China is currently the highest operating dam in the world. The dam has been partially operational since 2012, successive stages were launched gradually until the completion of construction in 2014. The project required the resettlement of 7.5 thousand people.
Written by: Tim Smith Tags: Asia, Canada, China, Colombia, Georgia, India, Iran, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, TOP..., Turkey
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