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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...

Denison Dam

(Encyclopedia)Denison Dam, 17,200 ft (5,243 m) long, on the Red River along the Texas–Okla. border, NW of Denison, Tex. The dam, built by the U.S. Corps of Engineers for flood control and hydroelectric power, was...

Dam, Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Dam, Henrik hănˈrēk däm [key], 1895–1976, Danish biochemist. He identified vitamin K in 1934 and later investigated the role of vitamin E in nutrition. The 1943 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medi...

Coolidge Dam

(Encyclopedia)Coolidge Dam, 249 ft (76 m) high, 920 ft (280 m) long, on the Gila River, SE Ariz.; built 1927–28. It irrigates c.100,000 acres (40,470 hectares), half of which are Native American lands in San Carl...

Conowingo Dam

(Encyclopedia)Conowingo Dam kŏnˌəwĭngˈgō [key], 4,648 ft (1,417 m) long, 102 ft (31 m) high, on the Susquehanna River, NE Md.; completed 1928. It is one of the largest nonfederal hydroelectric power plants in...

Akosombo Dam

(Encyclopedia)Akosombo Dam, Ghana: see Volta, river. ...

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...

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. ...