Dez Dam
| Dez Dam | |
|---|---|
  | |
| Country | Iran |
| Location | Khuzestan |
| Coordinates | 32°36.3′N 48°27.8′E / 32.6050°N 48.4633°ECoordinates: 32°36.3′N 48°27.8′E / 32.6050°N 48.4633°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1959 |
| Opening date | 1963 |
| Owner(s) | Iran Water & Power Resources Development Co. |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete arch dam |
| Impounds | Dez River |
| Length | 380 m (1,247 ft) |
| Height | 203 m (666 ft) |
| Elevation at crest | 27 m (89 ft) |
| Spillway capacity | 600 m3/s (21,000 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Active capacity | 3.34 km3 (2,710,000 acre·ft) |
| Surface area | 64.9 km2 (25.1 sq mi)[1] |
| Power station | |
| Turbines | 8 x 65 MW[1] |
| Installed capacity | 520 MW[1] |
| Annual generation | 1,783 GWh [1] |
The Dez Dam (Persian: سد دز) is a large hydroelectric dam built in Iran in 1963 by an Italian consortium.
The dam is on the Dez River in the Northwestern province of Khuzestan, the closest city being Andimeshk. It is 203 metres (666 ft) high, making it one of the highest in the world, and has a reservoir capacity of 3.340 million cubic metres. At the time of construction the Dez Dam was Iran's biggest development project.
It is also possible to visit powerhouse which is located at the east side of the dam in the mountains. The powerhouse has eight vertical Francis turbines.
The dam's current problem is the annual loss of reservoir capacity due to the erosion of soil in upstream areas.
Building process
Impregilo[2] was involved with building the Dez dam. The water from the reservoir went to irrigate 160 square kilometres (62 sq mi), only one-fifth of the area that the dam’s designers claimed would be irrigated. The irrigated land was largely for the benefit of foreign agribusiness corporations, including Mitsui, Chase Manhattan, Bank of America, Shell, John Deere and Transworld Agricultural Development Corporation. About 17,000 farmers lost their land to agribusinesses.[citation needed] Years later, many were still landless and jobless. Until the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, all the foreign companies left the area. Dez Dam has now an official web page and visitors are advised to visit the page and get more exact information.[citation needed]
References
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