Itaipu Dam

This is the one of the largest dams in the world. The Itaipu Dam is located in South America on the Parana River between the countries of Brazil and Paraguay. The Itaipu Binacional is a company that runs the largest operational hydroelectric power plant in the world. The damn stretches out 4 miles. The construction of the dam began in January 1975 and on May 1984 was when the first generator started running. The building of the dam was no easy task, 40,000 workers had to dig up more than 50 million tons of rock and earth and they also had to change the direction of the Parana River.

The dam works on rushing water to create electricity and this is because the water turns giant fans. The energy from the fans then power giant generators and this is the part that makes electricity. The electricity is then sent to power lines that spans across all over Brazil and Paraguay, also this helps to power home and businesses in each country.

More than nine million tourists have visited the dam.

Click here to check out an image of the dam at night.