The tallest dam in the world

A dam is a barrier that prevents or restrains surface water and subterranean water flows. Dam-generated reservoirs not only minimize flooding but provide for water supply activity, including irrigation, human consumption, industrial utilization, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower often is used to generate electricity in combination with dams. A dam can also be used to collect or store water that can be dispersed equally between places. 

Dams are used for the primary purpose of water retention, but other structures, like floodgates, are used to manage or prohibit the flow of water into certain land areas. Dikes are also used for water retention. The Jawa Dam in Jordan, dating back to 3,000 BC, is the earliest known dam. In Mesopotamia and the Middle East, early dam construction took place.

Dams were used to manage water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers for the weather of Mesopotamia. The Jawa Dam in Jordan, a century northeast of the capital Amman, is the earliest known dam. The gravity dam was initially made composed of a stone wall of 9 meters (30 ft) and 1 m (3.3 ft) broad, supported by an earthen wall of 50 m (160 ft) wide. The building was built in 3000 BC.

Amazing facts about Dams

• Dams are designed to generate hydroelectricity, create recreation areas, minimize flood hazards, irrigate water, and supply communities with water.

• The various types of dams are masonry barrages, embankment barrages, and barracks.

• Beavers make their own bars from barks and mud to protect themselves against predators and to facilitate simple access to food.

• Dams are big engineering undertakings requiring huge funding. The Itaipu Dam on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, for example, has cost about 20 billion dollars (finished in 1984).

• The Hoover Dam built-in 1931-1936 along the Colorado River reaches a height of 726 feet (221 meters).

• After completing the Hoover dam it was both the largest concrete building on earth and the greatest hydropower plant.

• The Hoover Dam is constructed of enough concrete to create an approximately 4000 miles long two-lane New York to San Francisco roadway (2500 kilometers).

• Nurek Dam in Tajikistan is the highest dam in the world as of 2010. It was finished in 1980 and reaches a height of 300 meters (984 feet).

• More than 2200 people were killed by a failure in 1889 in South Fork Dam near Johnstown, USA.

• In 1975, Banqiao Dam was one of many dams that collapsed in China by Typhoon Nina’s severe rainfall. The breaking down of the Banqiao Dam is estimated to have killed between 90,000 and 230,000 lives.