world’s largest dams

Dams are among the most massive human structures ever built, with many of the largest examples constructed using several million tonnes of dirt, rock, concrete, and other materials to span rivers or estuaries or to sequester lake water. Dams serve a variety of purposes, including storing water for human consumption and irrigation, generating hydroelectric power, protecting against peak floodwater discharge, and facilitating water navigation and recreation. Documenting the world’s largest dams is complex, since the notion of largest can be applied to a structure’s height and overall volume, the size of the reservoir it impounds, or the electric power it can provide.

The largest dams in the world are truly immense, often exceeding 240 meters (about 787 feet) in height and 60 million cubic meters (about 2.1 billion cubic feet) in volume. The volumes of the largest water reservoirs held back by dams range from some 60 billion cubic meters (2.1 trillion cubic feet) to nearly 3 trillion cubic meters (106 trillion cubic feet). The largest hydroelectric dams generate more than 10,000 megawatts of electricity.

This table lists major artificial dams and related structures, with heights and capacities based on standard engineering definitions where available. For artificial dams regulating natural lakes, reported reservoir volumes refer to the total maximum volume of the lake. Tailings impoundments (embankment structures used to store tailings—waste material produced during mining or oil extraction—typically as contained reservoirs for long-term disposal) are included where relevant; unlike conventional dams, these are built and raised in stages and do not have a single completion date.

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