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List of largest dams in the world

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The following table lists the largest man-made dams by volume of fill/structure. A dam is generally defined as a barrier that impounds water or underground flows, so tailings dams are relegated to a separate list. Data on volume of structure is not as readily available or reliable as data on dam height and reservoir volume.

Type: TE - Earth; ER - Rock-fill; PG - Concrete gravity; CFRD - Concrete face rockfill

Rank Name Country Year
completed		 Structure
volume
(106 m3)		 Structure
height
(m)		 Reservoir
volume
(109 m3)		 Installed
capacity
(MW)		 Type
1 Tarbela Dam[1]  Pakistan 1976 153 143 13.7 4,888 TE/ER
2 Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam[2]  Ethiopia 2023 130 (est.) 155 74 5,150 (full) CFRD
3 Fort Peck Dam[3]  United States 1940 96 76.4 23 185 TE
4 Atatürk Dam[4]  Turkey 1990 84.5 166 48.7 2,400 TE/ER
5 Houtribdijk  Netherlands 1968 78[5] 13 2[6] 0 TE/ER
6 Oahe Dam[3]  United States 1963 70.3 75 29 786 TE/ER
7 Mangla Dam  Pakistan 1967 65.4 147 9.12 1,000 TE/ER
8 Gardiner Dam[7]  Canada 1967 65.4 64 9.4 186 TE
9 Oroville Dam  United States 1968 59.6 230 4.36 819 TE/ER
10 San Luis Dam (BF Sisk Dam)  United States 1967 59.6 93 2.52 424 TE
11 Nurek Dam  Tajikistan 1980 54 300 10.5 3,200 TE
12 Samara Dam  Russia 1955 54[5] 52 57.3 2,315 TE/ER
13 Garrison Dam[3]  United States 1954 50.8 64 29 583.3 TE
14 Cochiti Dam  United States 1975 50.2 76.5 0.73 NA TE
15 Aswan Dam[8]  Egypt 1970 44.3 111 169 2,100 TE/ER
16 W. A. C. Bennett Dam  Canada 1968 43.7 186 7.4 2,876 TE
17 San Roque Dam  Philippines 2003 40[9] 200 0.835 345 CFRD
18 Fort Randall Dam[3]  United States 1953 38.2 50.3 6.7 320 TE/ER
19 Afsluitdijk  Netherlands 1932 36.5[5] 13 5.5 0 TE/ER
20 Guri Dam  Venezuela 1978 29.8 162 135 10,235 PG/ER
21 Three Gorges Dam  China 2008 27.4[10] 181 39.3 22,500 PG
22 Belo Monte Dam  Brazil 2016 25.4 90 1.9 11,233 PG/ER
23 Itaipu Dam  Brazil
 Paraguay		 1984 12.8[11] 196 29 14,000 PG
24 Grand Coulee Dam  United States 1942 9.2 168 12 6,809 PG

List of largest tailings dams

Type: TE - Earth; ER - Rock-fill; PG - Concrete gravity; CFRD - Concrete face rockfill.

Rank Name Country Year completed Structure volume [106 m3] Structure height [m] Reservoir volume [109 m3] Installed capacity [MW] Type
1 Syncrude Tailings Dam Mildred MLSB[12]  Canada 1995 540[5]/720 88 0.35 NA TE
2 Syncrude Tailings Dam#South West Sand Storage (SWSS)[13]  Canada 2010 119[5] 40–50 0.25[5] NA TE
3 ASARCO Mission Mine Tailings Dam  United States 1972 40.1 30[14] 0[15] NA ER

See also

References

  1. "Tarbela Dam Project" (PDF). WAPDA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-25. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  2. "Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) – Key Facts". Ethiopian Reporter. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2022-05-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2010-09-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Estimate based on height, dimensions from Google Earth and, where available, cross section. Accuracy ±15%
  6. 700 km2 × 3 m
  7. "South Saskatchewan River Project|Fact Sheet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
  8. "Embankment dams | Structurae". En.structurae.de. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  9. "San Roque Dam". NAPOCOR. Archived from the original on 2015-08-24. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  10. Wieland, Martin; Ren, Qingwen; Tan, John S. Y. (14 May 2014). New Developments in Dam Engineering. CRC Press. ISBN 9780203020678. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
  11. "The Project of the Century" (PDF). Itaipu Binacional. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
  12. D. Nicol (1994) "The Syncrude Mildred Lake Tailings Dyke Redesign", 18th Int. Congr. Large Dams.
  13. "Microsoft Word - Baseline Report on Fluid Deposits revE" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2011-02-16.
  14. Estimate based on structure volume and dimensions from Google Earth
  15. Zero reservoir size because full of tailings