10 Most POWERFUL Dams In The World!

Dams are spectacular feats of engineering that many of us take for granted. They are there to control mother nature and change the course of rivers and store water to produce energy. From dams in Russia, China, the United States and more, join me as I reveal to you 10 of the most powerful dams in the world!

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10. Hoover Dam
The hoover dam is located on the border between Arizona and Nevada in the USA. The dam provides flood control, and is a huge supplier of hydroelectric power.
Despite criticism from skeptics, who thought the $49 million project would fail financially or that the dam simply couldn’t be built, plans moved forward. By the way, in today’s money, that would be $860 million!

9. Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam
The Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam is can be found in Russia, and this particular dam is the largest power planet in the entire country, and is one of the most powerful dams in the world via its power generation. In terms of its dimensions, the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam measures nearly 800 feet tall, nearly 3500 feet long, about 350 feet wide at the base, and the water it contains has a water pressure of 30 million tons!

8. Longtan Dam
The Longtan Dam that can be found in China is known specifically as a roller-compacted concrete gravity dam. Which means that the dam was constructed using concrete and masonry in order to resist the natural pressures of the water they're containing via the weight of the building materials. As for where in China it's specifically located, that would be the Hongshui River in Tian'e County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.

7. Xiangjiaba Dam
Another dam that is located in China is the Xiangjiaba Dam, which is operated by China Yangtze Power Company (CYPC), and itself owned by China Three Gorges. The dam itself is located on the Jinsha River, a tributary of the Yangtze River in Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province, southwest China. Powering the dam is 8 Francis Turbines which each have a capacity of 812 Megawatts, so combined, the dam is able to do about 6448 Megawatts.

6. Grand Coulee Dam
Found in the state of Washington within the United States, and alongside the Colombia river, the Grand Coulee Dam was one that was made not only to produce power for the region, but to help with irrigation for local farming areas. But that was not the original intention when the plan for the dam came forth in the 1920's.

5. Tucuruí Dam
The Tucuruí Dam has a rather unique moniker attached to it, mainly in that it's the largest dam to ever have been built in a rainforest. Which really is unique because you don't think of dams being built in forest areas for various reasons, not the least of which is construction logistics. And yet, the Tucuruí Dam was not only built in a rainforest, it was built in Brazil in the Amazon Rainforest! Specifically though, it's on the Tocantins River located on the Tucuruí County in the State of Pará, Brazil.

4. Guri Dam
Within Venezuela is the Guri Dam, also known as the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Plant. It's a dual-type of dam, as it's a concrete gravity and embankment dam. Which means that it's construction uses a variety of materials to help fulfill the function of the place. It was built between 1963 and 1969 and is located in the Necuima Canyon in Bolivar.

3. Xiluodu Dam
Found on the Jinsha River in Yunnan Province, the Xiluodu Dam is the second-largest hydroelectric dam (in regards to capacity at least) in all of China. Which is good because the Xiluodu Dam is multi-purpose in its construction. Given the size of the dam, it naturally exudes a lot of power, over 13,000 MW at max capacity. But, it also serves as a means of flood control, silt control, and it can even use its waters to help guide ships down the river.

2.Itaipu Dam
The construction of the Itaipu Dam was one that took a lot of people by surprise, because it was one of the very few dams in the whole world that actually lies on the border between two countries. In this case, that would be Brazil and Paraguay.

1. Three Gorges Dam
As documented by the USGS, the Three Gorges Dam that is located in China is the most powerful dam in the world. This was determined back in 2012 when the dam's incredible 32 generators were all turned on at the same time, and were able to produce 22,500 megawatts of power. The full construction of the dam took over $31 billion dollars to complete.

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