Salto Grande Dam

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A view of the Salto Grande reservoir

The Salto Grande Dam is a dam on the middle course of the Uruguay River, located between the cities of Concordia, Entre Ríos, Argentina, and Salto, Uruguay. Its purpose is the generation of hydroelectricity (in this context it is referred to as Salto Grande Bi-National Hydroelectric Central). Its property is shared between the two countries.

The construction of the dam started in 1974, and electricity production began in 1979. The hydroelectric plant is equipped with 14 generators powered by Kaplan turbines, which can produce a total of 1,890 megawatts.

The dam can evacuate up to 64,000 m³/s of water (the average flow of the Uruguay River at this point is 4,622 m³/s). The reservoir has a total area of 783 km² (its maximum dimensions are 140 × 9 km).

The dam is crowned by a road and railroad bridge (the Salto Grande Bridge), which is one of several bridges joining Uruguay and the Argentine Mesopotamia.