Owner: Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - UAE
Man made dams represent some of the most incredible architectural feats in the world today. While most dams were designed to impound or retain water, others (like floodgates and levees) are often used to control water flow into certain areas.
Regardless of how they’re used no one will question the sheer power and force each dam holds. One crack or failure - one mistake in control - could easily cause a catastrophic accident with the potential to wipe out an entire city.
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Srisailam Reservoir
9. Nagarjuna Sagar - India
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Nagarjuna Sagar India
The Nagarjuna Sagar Dam can be found in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh in India. Considered one of the largest ever built in Asia, this dam was completed in 1966 and features 26 individual crest gates. As far as construction is concerned, this dam is the tallest in the world to be made strictly from masonry and its creation resulted in the third largest man-made lake on the globe. The dam and its canals are incredibly important to the ability to irrigate nearby land.
8. Verzasca Dam - Switzerland
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Verzasca Dam
7. Ataturk Dam - Turkey
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Ataturk Dam
6. Mangla Dam - Pakistan
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Mangla Dam
The twelfth largest dam in the world was built in 1967 and was funded in part by the World Bank. The Mangla Dam came into creation thanks to the 1960 signing of the Indus Waters Treaty in which rights to the waters contained in the Ravi, Beas, and Suglej rivers were given to Pakistan. Before the dam was built Pakistan’s irrigation system relied solely on the flow of the Indus River - most of which was completely unregulated.
5. Tarbela - Pakistan
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Tarbela Dam
Completed back in 1976, the Tarbela Dam, also known as Torabela or Pashto, is considered to be the largest dam ever constructed on Pakistan’s Indus River. While it’s not the largest dam in the world overall, it is the largest dam filled naturally by the earth. The dam stores water in order to not only control flooding but for use in irrigation and the production of hydro-electric energy as well.
4. Fort Peck - United States
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Fort Peck Dam
The Fort Peck Dam in northeast Montana is one of six dams found on the Missouri River. Construction of this dam began in 1933 as part of the New Deal put forth by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and enabled over 11,000 workers to have gainful employment during the course of construction. The dam, which is solely responsible for the formation of Fort Peck Lake, is used to control flooding and generate power.
3. Aswan Dam - Egypt
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Aswan Dam
The Aswan Dam is actually a pair of dams - the Aswan High Dam and the Aswan Low Dam. In ancient times it was known that the River Nile would flood each summer as the waters flowed down from East Africa. As the population along the river grew it became necessary to find a way to control flooding in this area. Now the land is still fertile enough for farming and the people no longer have to worry about drought but the fields aren’t in danger of being wiped out due to flooding, either.
2. Syncrude Tailings - Canada
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Syncrude Tailings
Located near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, the Syncrude Tailings Dam is approximately 540,000,000 meters in volume. The dam is currently maintained by a company known as Syncrude Canada Ltd - a company responsible for oil extraction in the Athabasca Oil Sands. The dam serves as a barrage used to store tailings - or leftover slimes and residues - that appear as byproducts of the oil extraction operation.
1. Three Gorges - China
Top 10 Largest Dams of the World - Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam in China is projected to be the absolute largest in the world. Expected to hold over 39,300,000,000 in volume, the reservoir is complete but the actual dam itself will not be completed until later this year. The construction of this dam had a huge impact on life in Sandouping, resulting not only in the relocation of dozens of villages but in the scenery as well. Because of the height of the Three Gorges Dam the mountains now look a bit lower than they actually are.
These dams are not only amongst the largest, but are considered some of the most functional, beautiful, and aesthetically pleasing in the world. Don’t hesitate to visit one if you’re ever in the area. Seeing one of the enormous dams in person will prove to be an absolutely breathtaking experience.
World’s Largest Wind Turbine (7+ Megawatts)
World’s Largest Wind Turbine
World’s Largest Wind Turbine
The turbine being installed in Emden, Germany by Enercon . They will be testing several types of storage systems in combination with the multi-megawatt wind turbines.
World’s Largest Wind Turbine
These turbines are equipped with a number of new features: an optimized blade design with a spoiler extending down to the hub, and a pre-cast concrete base. Due to the elevated hub height and the new blade profile, the performance of the E-126 is expected to by far surpass that of the E-112.
A graph of the World’s Largest Wind Turbines.
WW II Russian tank with German markings uncovered after 62 years. WW II Buffs will find this interesting. Even after 62 years (and a little tinkering), they were able to fire up the diesel engine!
A Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer pulled the abandoned tank from its tomb under the boggy bank of a lake near Johvi , Estonia . The Soviet-built T34/76A tank had been resting at the bottom of the lake for 56 years. According to its specifications, it’s a 27-ton machine with a top speed of 53km/hr.
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
From February to September 1944, heavy battles were fought in the narrow, 50 km-wide, Narva front in the northeastern part of Estonia . Over 100,000 men were killed and 300,000 men were wounded there. During battles in the summer of 1944, the tank was captured from the Soviet army and used by the German army.
(This is the reason that there are German markings painted on the tank’s exterior.)
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
On 19th September, 1944, German troops began an organized retreat along the Narva front. It is suspected that the tank was then purposefully driven into the lake to conceal it when its captors left the area.
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
At that time, a local boy walking by the lake, Kurtna Matasjarv, noticed tank tracks leading into the lake but not coming out anywhere. For two months he saw air bubbles emerging from the lake. This gave him reason to believe that there must be an armored vehicle at the lake’s bottom. A few years ago, he told the story to the leader of the local war history club ‘Otsing’. Together with other club members, Mr. Igor Shedunov initiated diving expeditions to the bottom of the lake about a year ago. At the depth of 7 metres they discovered the tank resting under a 3 metre layer of peat.
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
Enthusiasts from the club, under Mr Shedunov’s leadership, decided to pull the tank out. In September of 2000 they turned to Mr. Aleksander Borovkovthe, manager of the Narva open pit company AS Eesti Polevkivi, to rent the company’s Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer. (Currently used at the pit, the Komatsu dozer was manufactured in 1995, and has recorded 19,000 operating hours without major repairs.)
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
The pulling operation began at 09:00 and was concluded at 15:00, with several technical breaks. The weight of the tank, combined with the travel incline, made for a pulling operation that required significant muscle. The D375A-2 handled the operation with power and style. The weight of the fully-armed tank was around 30 tons, so the active force required to retrieve it was similar. A main requirement for the 68-ton dozer was to have enough weight to prevent slippage while moving up the hill.
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
2nd World War Tank Found After 62 Years
After the tank surfaced, it turned out to be a “trophy tank” that had been captured by the German army in the course of the battle at Sinimaed (Blue Hills) about six weeks before it was sunk in the lake. Altogether, 116 shells were found on board. Remarkably, the tank was in good condition, with NO RUST, and alll systems (except the engine) in working condition. This is a very rare machine, especially considering that it fought both on the Russian and the German sides. Plans are underway to fully restore the tank. It will be displayed at a war history museum in the Gorodenko village on the left bank of the River Narv.
