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dam

(Encyclopedia)dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...

Kemano Dam

(Encyclopedia)Kemano Dam: see Nechako, river, Canada. ...

McNary Dam

(Encyclopedia)McNary Dam, 7,265 ft (2,214 m) long and 183 ft (56 m) high, on the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington, near Umatilla, Oreg.; built 1947–56 by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Located at the he...

Kariba Dam

(Encyclopedia)Kariba Dam kärēˈbä [key], hydroelectric project, in Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi River, on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, S central Africa; built 1955–59. One of the world's largest dams, it is 420 ...

Hoover Dam

(Encyclopedia)Hoover Dam, 726 ft (221 m) high and 1,244 ft (379 m) long, on the Colorado River between Nev. and Ariz.; one of the world's largest dams. Built between 1931 and 1936 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,...

Guri Dam

(Encyclopedia)Guri Dam, 24,364 ft (7,426 m) long and 531 ft (162 m) high, on the Caroní River, Bolívar state, SW Venezuela. Built in phases between 1963 and 1986, the dam consists of a central concrete gravity da...

Fontana Dam

(Encyclopedia)Fontana Dam, N.C.: see Little Tennessee, river. ...

Furnas Dam

(Encyclopedia)Furnas Dam, c.390 ft (120 m) high, at the junction of the Rio Grande and Sapucaí rivers, SE Brazil, in Minas Gerais state; completed 1962. It has a 620-sq mi (1,606-sq km) reservoir. It includes larg...

Garrison Dam

(Encyclopedia)Garrison Dam, c.11,300 ft (3,400 m) long and 210 ft (64 m) high, on the Missouri River, near Riverdale, W central N.Dak.; one of the world's largest earth-filled dams used for irrigation power. Built ...

Itaipú Dam

(Encyclopedia)Itaipú Dam ētīˈpo͞o [key], hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River, on the Brazil-Paraguay border. Jointly constructed (1975–91) by Brazil and Paraguay, it is the second-largest hydroelectric da...