A Really Big Dam

So we just went to see the Itaipu Dam - the world's biggest hydroelectric power plant. It was ... big. Just quite how big is difficult to describe without resorting to the statistics printed in our guide book. So without further ado, here they are:

• The Itaipu Dam is built on the Parana river, 14km north of Iguazu Falls.


• The dam is 8km long and 65 stories high (200m)


• The concrete used in its construction would be sufficient to build a two-land highway from Mosco to Lisbon


• The iron and steel used is equivalent to 380 Eiffel Towers


• It cost $18 billion to build


• At the height of its construction, crews were building the equivalent of a 20 story office building every hour
  
• It provides 90% of Paraguay's electricity needs and 22% of Brazil's


• Construction began in 1973, and the final generator wasn't fully functioning until last year

Like I said ... big. It is also however, pretty ugly. I don't suppose aesthetics were at the forefront of the designers' minds (particularly in 1973). Still an impressive sight though, especially the force and power of all that water rushing out of the "Spillway", the Dam's very own overflow pipe.