Bhakra Dam
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Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity-arch dam across the Sutlej River, near the border between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam was part of the larger multipurpose Bhakra Nangal Project whose aims were to prevent floods in the Sutlej-Beas river valley, to provide irrigation to adjoining states and to provide hydro-electricity.
Construction began in 1948 and was completed in 1963. The dam, at 741 ft (226 m), is one of the highest gravity dams in the world (compare Hoover Dam at 732 ft). The 166 km² Gobindsagar Reservoir, named after Guru Gobind Singh, is created by this dam. The dam provides irrigation to 10 million acres (40,000 km²) of fields in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. Two power houses with a total capacity of 1000 MW flank the dam, on either side of the river. A smaller subsidiary dam, called the Nangal Dam is located a little downriver from the Bhakra Dam.
[edit] Statistics
- Type of Dam: Concrete gravity-arch
- Height: 741 ft (226 m)
- Height (above river bed): 560 ft
- Length at top: 1700 ft
- Width at top: 30 ft
- Length at bottom: 325 ft
- Width at base: 625 ft
- Elevation at top of dam: 1700 ft (above sea level)
- Steel used: 100000 tons
[edit] See also
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