Itaipu Dam

Important Points regarding this Dam are:-

1) Itaipu Dam is a five miles wide dam which spans the Parana River at the Brazil/Paraguay border.

2) 50 million tons of earth and rock were removed in the construction process for digging a 1.3-mile bypass.

3) The main dam, as high as a 65-story building, is composed of hollow concrete segments, while the flanking wings are earth and rock fill.

4) Powerhouse of this dam is half a mile long, half underwater and containing 18 hydroelectric generators each 53 ft. across. Some 160 tons of water per second pour onto each turbine, generating 12,600 mega watts –enough to power most of California.

5) Itaipu currently supplies 28 percent of all the electric energy in Brazil’s south, southeast and central-west regions, and 72 percent of Paraguay’s total energy consumption.

6) The steel used in this is enough to make 300 Eiffel tower.