What kind of structure is it?

Hydroelectric power is produced as water passes through a dam, and into a river
below. The more water that passes through a dam, the more energy is produced.
Once a dam is built, an artificial man-made lake is created behind the dam.
Electricity is produced by a device called a turbine.
Electricity is produced by a device called a turbine. Turbines contain metal coils
surrounded by magnets. When the magnets spin over the metal coils, electricity
is produced. Turbines are located inside dams. The falling water spins the
magnets.

When was it built?

Construction began
Opening date

January 1975
5 May 1984

Where is it located?
on the Paran River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.

What is the purpose of the structure?

in 2008 the dam generated 94,684 megawatts, the largest amount of power ever
produced by a single dam. This electricity supplies Paraguay with almost 90
percent of its power and Brazil with around 25 percent. The dam, a renewable
energy source, produces the equivalent amount of power as burning 434,000
barrels of oil per day.
Electricity is 55% cheaper when made by the Itaipu Dam than the other types of
power plants in the area.

How is the structure innovative?

Combination of 3 types of dams.
-Gravity dam
-Buttress dam
-Embankment dam
Combination of functionality, diplomacy, and tourism.
o

Functionality: Supply of electricity

Diplomacy: Brazil and Paraguay

Tourism: Sightseeing

What makes the structure a wonder of the modern

world?
American Society of Civil Engineers: one of the seven modern Wonders of the
World (1994).
The second largest operating hydroelectric facility in the world in terms of annual
energy generation.

Specialists Involved
CONTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL
The amount of concrete used to build the Itaipu Power Plant would be
enough to build 210 football stadiums the size of the Estdio do Maracan.
The iron and steel used would allow for the construction of 380 Eiffel
Towers.
The total length of the dam is 7,235 metres (23,737 ft). The crest elevation
is 225 metres (738 ft). Itaipu is actually four dams joined together from
the far left, an earth fill dam, a rock fill dam, a concrete buttress main
dam, and a concrete wing dam to the right.
The spillway has a length of 483 metres (1,585 ft).
The dam is 196 metres (643 ft) high, equivalent to a 65-story building
Around forty thousand people worked in the construction.
WATER RESOURCES
control river flow, improve navigation, and regulate flooding.
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Conclusion
-Dams provide water for industry ,water for irrigation ,water for fishing and
recreation.
-Water for hydroelectric power production ,navigation in rivers and other needs.
-serve people by reducing or preventing floods
-renewable energy
-flowing water creates energy that can be captured and turned into electricity.
-At the same time give impact on environment and social
-ex: the world largest waterfall by volume, the Guaria Falls was drowned by by
the newly formed Itaupu Reservoir
-the construction which at the same time destroy the ecosystem
-Large dam have led to the extinction of many fish and other aquatic species,the
disappearance of birds in floodplains ,huge losses of forest ,wetland and
farmland, erosion of costal deltas and many other unmigitable impact.

-Engineers make some way to minimize the impact on ecosystem to make for a
green uses and better use in future