Top 5 biggest dams of the world

1.The New Cornelia Tailings Dam
New Cornelia Tailings dam is located in the United States.  Its size is approximately 209,500 cu m or 274,026 cu yds.  It was built and operational in 1973.  This Arizona dam is currently in limbo, with large piles of waste material.  A proposal for a new project is under consideration at this time.  This site was shut down in 1983.




2.The Tarbela Dam

 The Tarbela Dam is located in Pakistan and the building of this dam was completed in 1974. It has 121,720 cu m or 159,210 cu yds. Tarbela is on the Indus River and is the largest earth filled dam.  The dam stored water for flood control, irrigation and to help generate hydro-electric power.

3.The Fort Peck Dam

The Fort Peck Dam is in Montana, USA and is 96,049 cu m or 125,628 cu yds. This dam was operational in 1940.  Fort Peck Dam was innitiated to create jobs in the great depression, as well as to control floods.  This dam spans the Missouri River, and at its highest employment provided nearly 10,500 jobs.
4.The Lower Usuma Dam

The Lower Usuma is located in Nigeria, built and functional in 1990.   This Dam is 93,000 cu m or 121,644 cu yds.  The Lower Usuma was finished and operational in 1990. A new raw water pipeline and pumping station will feed water from the Usuma dam into water treament plants.
5.The Ataturk Dam

The Ataturk Dam is located in Turkey. It is 84,500 cu m or 110,522 cu yds.  This dam was built and functional in 1990.  Attaturk Dam is a rock filled dam on the Euphrates River.   It was built to generate electricity and irrigate the plains in the region. There are currently four more dams under construction that will be larger than all of the above. They are as follows, Three Gorges in China, and Syncrude Tailings in Canada.  Argentina currently has two dams under construction.  They are The Chapeton and The Pati dams.