Dez Dam

Dez Dam
Location of Dez Dam
Country	Iran
Location	Khuzestan
Coordinates	32°36.3′N 48°27.8′E / 32.605°N 48.4633°E / 32.605; 48.4633Coordinates: 32°36.3′N 48°27.8′E / 32.605°N 48.4633°E / 32.605; 48.4633
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
Height	203 m (666 ft)
Length	380 m (1,247 ft)
Crest width	27 m (89 ft)
Impounds	Dez River
Spillway capacity	600 m3/s (21,000 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
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 meters. 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

1. ^ ^{a b c d} http://www.khpimc.com/sample-project.htm
2. ^ Ilisu Dam Campaign