Tabqa Dam

Tabqa Dam
Tabqa Dam
Location of Tabqa Dam in Syria
Official name	سَدُّ الثَّوْرَةِ
Country	Syria, controlled by Syrian Democratic Forces
Location	Al-Thawrah District, Raqqa Governorate, Syria
Coordinates	35°52′20″N 38°34′00″E / 35.87222°N 38.56667°E / 35.87222; 38.56667
Status	Operational
Construction began	1968
Opening date	1973
Construction cost	US$340 million
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earth-fill dam
Impounds	Euphrates
Height	60 m (197 ft)
Length	4,500 m (14,764 ft)
Width (crest)	19 m (62 ft)
Width (base)	512 m (1,680 ft)
Reservoir
Creates	Lake Assad
Inactive capacity	11.7 km3 (2.8 cu mi)
Surface area	610 km2 (236 sq mi)
Power Station
Commission date	July 1973–8 March 1978
Turbines	8 x 103 MW Kaplan-type
Installed capacity	824 MW

The Tabqa Dam (Arabic: سَدُّ الطَّبْقَةِ, romanized: Sadd aṭ-Ṭabqah, Kurdish: Bendava Tebqa; Classical Syriac: ܣܟܪܐ ܕܛܒܩܗ, romanized: Sekro d'Tabqa), or al-Thawra Dam as it is also named (Arabic: سَدُّ الثَّوْرَةِ, romanized: Sadd aṯ-Ṯawrah, Kurdish: Bendava Tewra; Classical Syriac: ܣܟܪܐ ܕܬܘܪܗ, romanized: Sekro d'Ṯawra, literally "Dam of the Revolution"), most commonly known as Euphrates Dam (Arabic: سَدُّ الْفُرَاتِ, romanized: Sadd al-Furāt; Kurdish: Bendava Firatê; Classical Syriac: ܣܟܪܐ ܕܦܪܬ, romanized: Sekro d'Frot), is an earthen dam on the Euphrates, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) upstream from the city of Raqqa in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. The city of Al-Thawrah is located immediately south of the dam. The dam is 60 metres (200 ft) high and 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) long and is the largest dam in Syria.^[1] Its construction led to the creation of Lake Assad, Syria's largest water reservoir. The dam was constructed between 1968 and 1973 with help from the Soviet Union. At the same time, an international effort was made to excavate and document as many archaeological remains as possible in the area of the future lake before they would be flooded by the rising water. When the flow of the Euphrates was reduced in 1974 to fill the lake behind the dam, a dispute broke out between Syria and Iraq (which is downstream) that was settled by intervention from Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union.^[2] The dam was originally built to generate hydroelectric power, as well as irrigate lands on both sides of the Euphrates. The dam has not reached its full potential in either of these objectives.^[3]