13 Fascinating Facts About Dams You Won't Believe: Discover the Wonders of Engineering Marvels

1. Uninvited Fish: China's Dam Dilemma

Why did the fish refuse to climb the ladder? Because China didn't invite them to the dam party: While some Chinese dams, like the Changzhou dam with its 1.4km fish ladder, have stepped up their game to accommodate migratory fish, many dams on the Yangtze River have left aquatic travelers out in the cold, leading to a serious decline in freshwater migratory fish populations, like the Chinese sturgeon, who just can't seem to catch a break or reach their spawning grounds.
Source => chinadialogue.net

2. Beaver: The Original Dam Builder

Move over, Bob the Builder: it's time to bow down to the mighty beaver, the animal world's original construction connoisseur! These furry critters are hailed as ecosystem engineers for their exceptional ability to transform landscapes, constructing dams that create nutrient-rich ponds, slow water flow, and provide habitats for a diverse range of species, while their digging talents contribute significantly to floodplain topography and river form processes.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Did you know there's an 850-meter beaver dam in Canada that's so large it was discovered using Google Earth? Discover this wetland wonder and more fascinating facts!

=> Fun Facts about Bridges

3. Hoover Dam: Paving a Concrete Highway

If the Hoover Dam were a pizza delivery guy, it would need one monumental tip for its cross-country journey: The dam contains enough concrete to pave a 16-foot-wide highway from San Francisco to New York City! This colossal creation represents a whopping 5 million barrels of cement, equivalent to the Bureau of Reclamation's combined usage over the previous 27 years – and, thanks to clever engineers' gigantic refrigeration system, each massive block of concrete cooled in just two months, preventing cracks and ensuring its long-lasting stability.
Source => graylinelasvegas.com

4. Aswan High Dam: Fish Population Flounder

Here's a fishy situation for you: the Aswan High Dam was once a damsel in distress for Egyptian fisherfolk! As the waters churned behind this grand barrier, the fish kingdom tried to adapt to their new underwater landscape, but sadly, many fish populations floundered. The dam truth is: the dam's construction led to a decline in fish catch due to weed proliferation in the reservoir, and a lack of silt and sediment from annual Nile floods affecting the Mediterranean Sea's marine fisheries. However, recent surges in sardine populations have everyone thinking–maybe it's time for fish to have their "scale back" moment.
Source => courseware.e-education.psu.edu

5. Californians' Uvas Hydration Hero

In a twist of liquid irony, Californians rely on tipsy Uvas to remain sober: The Uvas Reservoir, constructed in 1957 by damming Uvas Creek, quenches the thirst of residential, agricultural, and industrial Californians with 10,000 acre-feet of water as the fifth largest reservoir owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Jinping-I Dam: World's Tallest Dam

If the mountains could talk, they'd say, "Dam, you're tall!": The Jinping-I Dam in China proudly boasts the title of tallest dam in the world, reaching a staggering height of 305 meters (1,001 feet), nestled within the picturesque Jinping Mountains as part of a larger hydroelectric power project that includes the equally impressive Jinping-II Dam.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Lost Villages: St. Lawrence's Waterlogged Secrets

Talk about a waterlogged treasure hunt: the St. Lawrence Seaway's construction and subsequent flooding of Canada's Lost Villages created eerie underwater dive sites, complete with sunken towns and shipwrecks, at the cost of serious ecological consequences and lost historical artifacts.
Source => hauntedwalk.com

8. Hoover Dam's "In-cement-sational" Party

Did you hear about the concrete party at the Hoover Dam? It was totally "in-cement-sational": Contractors laid out 6.6 million tons of concrete during the dam's construction, enough to cover over 1,000 acres in a one-inch-thick layer.
Source => onlyinyourstate.com

9. Fish Hitch a Tube Ride Over Dams

Talk about a fishy commute: fish are now hitching a ride over dams with a pneumatic tube system called the Whooshh Fish Transport System! The serious reveal: since 2014, this seamless technology has been tested on numerous waterways, including the Cle Elum Dam on the Yakima River, proving to be safer, more efficient, and cost-effective compared to traditional fish passage systems like ladders or lifts, all while helping fish reach their historical spawning grounds in a matter of seconds.
Source => news.wsu.edu

10. Sandy River's Fishy Homecoming

In a plot twist worthy of a dramatic fish tale, the Sandy River in Oregon gave its anadromous fishy residents a grand homecoming after a century-long hiatus: The Marmot Dam removal in 2007 led to 50% of the impounded sediment being evacuated by May 2008, allowing the river to flow freely and providing better access to upstream habitats for our piscine pals.
Source => usgs.gov

11. Electrifying Hydroelectric Power

Dams are the life of the party, generating electrifying vibes all around the globe: A riveting 17% of total electricity production worldwide comes from hydroelectricity, with China taking the crown as the top producer, followed by Canada, Brazil, and the United States.
Source => usgs.gov

12. Hirakud Dam: The Great Wall's Long Contender

Move over Great Wall of China, we've got a contender that's longer and dam serious: The Hirakud Dam in Odisha, India, is the world's longest earthen dam, stretching an impressive 25.8 km across the Mahanadi River, holding a colossal reservoir of 743 km2, and boasting an installed capacity of 347.5 MW in hydroelectric power - talk about a game changer!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

13. Ethiopia's Game-Changing Dam Project

In a dam-n impressive turn of events, with riveting financial support and the promise of electrifying returns, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has stirred up a current of excitement: Chinese banks are providing funding for the hydroelectric plants' turbines and electrical equipment, while the Ethiopian government has managed to raise a significant portion of the required capital for this monumental project through domestic and international investments, despite Nile River tensions.
Source => brookings.edu