The Itumbiara Dam is an embankment dam on the Paranaíba River

Paranaíba River

The Paranaíba River is a Brazilian river whose source lies in the state of Minas Gerais in the Mata da Corda mountains, municipality of Rio Paranaíba, at an altitude of 1,148 meters; on the other face of this mountain chain are the sources of the Abaeté river, tributary of the São Francisco River...

 near Itumbiara

Itumbiara

Itumbiara is a small city and municipality in the extreme south of the state of Goiás, Brazil. The population was 100,000 in a total area of 2,461,3 km²...

 in Goiás

Goiás

Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. The dam serves an associated hydroelectric power plant with a 2,082 MW installed capacity. The power plant is the sixth largest in Brazil and has the largest installed capacity of Eletrobrás Furnas

Eletrobrás Furnas

Eletrobras Furnas is a regional power utility and a major subsidiary of Eletrobras. The company generates or transmits electricity to 51% of households in Brazil and more than 40% of the nation's electricity passes through their grid...

' power plants.

Background

Between 1963 and 1965, a consortium of U.S., Canadian and Brazilian engineering firms studied and selected sites in Brazil for dams that would assist in developing the region with electricity. Originally, the Itumbiara Dam was to have a shorter height which would accommodate two other dams upstream. A change in plans raised the height of the dam, increasing the reservoir, eliminating the need for the two dams upstream and doubling power production.

Construction

Construction on the dam and power plant began in November 1974 and the river was diverted by September 1, 1976. On October 1, 1979, the reservoir behind the dam began to fill and on September 30, 1979, the left embankment was complete while the right was on November 30 of that same year. The whole dam was completed in April 1980. On April 27, 1980, the first generator went online and the last on December 30, 1981 just two weeks after the power house was complete. Despite poor weather along with engineering and technical difficulties, the project was completed on time. 97% of the firms working on the project were Brazilian and 90% of the supplies provided for construction were from Brazil. In 1997, the controls for the plant were switched to remote operation in a central plant in Corumba

Corumbá

Corumbá is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, 425 km northwest of Campo Grande, the state's capital. It has a population of approximately 96,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly on agriculture, animal husbandry, mineral extraction, and tourism, being the...

, leaving the control room unmanned. The dam and power plant was originally estimated to cost $439 million but ended over $716 million when construction was complete. Including the electrical transmission system, the whole project cost just over $1 billion. $125 million for construction was financed by the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

.

Specifications

The Itumbiara Dam is a 7000 m (22,965.9 ft) long and 106 m (347.8 ft) high earth-fill embankment dam

Embankment dam

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

 with a concrete spillway

Spillway

A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that was dammed. In the UK they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways release floods so that the water does not overtop and damage or even destroy...

 and power house

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

 section. The earthen portion of the dam contains 31500000 cubic metre of earth fill while the concrete portion contains 1800000 cubic metre for a total structural volume of 33300000 cubic metre. The dam's spillway contains six floodgates that are 15 m (49.2 ft) wide and 9 m (29.5 ft) high each. In total, the spillway has a 16000 m3/s discharge capacity. The dam's power house is 25 m (82 ft) wide and 223 m (731.6 ft) long and contains six 347 MW generators

Electrical generator

In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...

 that are powered by Francis turbine

Francis turbine

The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....

s.