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Tucuruí Dam
The Tucuruí Dam (Tucuruí means "grasshopper's water", translated from Tupí language; pt, Tucuruí) is a concrete gravity dam on the Tocantins River located on the Tucuruí County in the State of Pará, Brazil. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and navigation. It is the first large-scale hydroelectric project in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. The installed capacity of the 25-unit plant is . Phase I construction began in 1980 and ended in 1984 while Phase II began in 1998 and ended in 2010. The dam was featured in the 1985 film ''The Emerald Forest''. Background and history The initial reconnaissance of the Tocantins River was carried out by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and USAID in 1964. The Amazon Energy Studies Coordination Committee was formed in 1968 and begin hydroelectric project studies in 1969. Before the committee closed, Eletrobrás commissioned further studies, called the "Tocantins Studies", on the entire Tocantins River Basin. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tocantins River
The Tocantins River ( pt, Rio Tocantins, link=no , , Parkatêjê dialect, Parkatêjê: ''Pyti'' [pɨˈti]) is a river in Brazil, the central fluvial artery of the country. In the Tupi language, its name means "toucan's beak" (''Tukã'' for "toucan" and ''Ti'' for "beak"). It runs from south to north for about 2,450 km. It is not really a branch of the Amazon River, since its waters flow into the Atlantic Ocean alongside those of the Amazon. It flows through four Brazilian states (Goiás, Tocantins, Maranhão and Pará) and gives its name to one of Brazil's newest states, formed in 1988 from what was until then the northern portion of Goiás. The Tocantins is one of the largest Clearwater river (river type), clearwater rivers in South America. Course It rises in the mountainous district known as the Pirineus State Park, Pireneus, west of the Federal District, but its western tributary, the Araguaia River, has its extreme southern headwaters on the slopes of the Serra dos Cai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (, ; 3 August 1907 – 12 September 1996) was a Brazilian Army officer and politician, who was President of Brazil from 1974 to 1979, during the Brazilian military regime. Early life and family Ernesto Geisel was born in Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul province. His father was Guilherme Augusto Geisel (born Wilhelm August Geisel), a German Brazilian teacher from Herborn who immigrated to the Empire of Brazil in 1883 at age 16. His mother was the homemaker Lydia Beckmann, born in Brazil in Teutônia colony to German parents from Osnabrück. In Bento Gonçalves, where Ernesto was raised, there were only two families of German origin (Geisels and Drehers), and most of the population was composed of Italian immigrants. Remembering the contact with the local Italian immigrants during his childhood Geisel described the cultural contrasts between the strict and rigorous education that his German parents imposed compared to the freedom and more relaxe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floodgate
Floodgates, also called stop gates, are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and canals, or they may be designed to stop water flow entirely as part of a levee or storm surge system. Since most of these devices operate by controlling the water surface elevation being stored or routed, they are also known as crest gates. In the case of flood bypass systems, floodgates sometimes are also used to lower the water levels in a main river or canal channels by allowing more water to flow into a flood bypass or detention basin when the main river or canal is approaching a flood stage. Types Valves Valves used in floodgate applications have a variety of design requirements and are usually located at the base of dams. Often, the most important requirement (besides regulating flow) is energy dissipation. Since water is very he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyke (construction)
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. The purpose of a levee is to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast. Levees can be naturally occurring ridge structures that form next to the bank of a river, or be an artificially constructed fill or wall that regulates water levels. Ancient civilizations in the Indus Valley, ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and China all built levees. Today, levees can be found around the world, and failures of levees due to erosion or other causes can be major disasters. Etymology Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwest and Deep South) use the word ''levee'', from the French word (from the feminine past participle of the French verb , 'to raise'). It originated i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecosystem Service
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. These ecosystems, functioning in healthy relationships, offer such things as natural pollination of crops, clean air, extreme weather mitigation, and human mental and physical well-being. Collectively, these benefits are becoming known as ecosystem services, and are often integral to the provision of food, the provisioning of clean drinking water, the decomposition of wastes, and the resilience and productivity of food ecosystems. While scientists and environmentalists have discussed ecosystem services implicitly for decades, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) in the early 2000s popularized this concept. There, ecosystem services are grouped into four broad categories: ''provisioning'', such as the production of food and water; ''regul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landless Workers' Movement
Landless Workers' Movement ( pt, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST) is a social movement in Brazil, inspired by Marxism, generally regarded as one of the largest in Latin America with an estimated informal membership of 1.5 million across 23 of Brazil's 26 states. MST defines its goals as access to the land for poor workers through land reform in Brazil and activism around social issues that make land ownership more difficult to achieve, such as unequal income distribution, racism, sexism, and media monopolies. MST strives to achieve a self-sustainable way of life for the rural poor. The MST differs from previous land reform movements in its single-issue focus; land reform for them is a self-justifying cause. The organization maintains that it is legally justified in occupying unproductive land, pointing to the most recent Constitution of Brazil (1988), which contains a passage saying that land should fulfill a social function (Article 5, XXIII). The MST also note ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The process of arriving at the modern Francis runner design took from 1848 to approximately 1920. It became known as the Francis turbine around 1920, being named after British-American engineer James B. Francis who in 1848 created a new turbine design. Francis turbines are primarily used for producing electricity. The power output of the electric generators generally ranges from just a few kilowatts up to 1000 MW, though mini-hydro installations may be lower. The best performance is seen when the head height is between . Penstock diameters are between . The speeds of different turbine units range from 70 to 1000 rpm. A wicket gate around the outside of the turbine's rotating runner controls the rate of water flow through the turbine for d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Navigation Lock
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself (usually then called a caisson) that rises and falls. Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to cross land that is not level. Later canals used more and larger locks to allow a more direct route to be taken. Pound lock A ''pound lock'' is most commonly used on canals and rivers today. A pound lock has a chamber with gates at both ends that control the level of water in the pound. In contrast, an earlier design with a single gate was known as a flash lock. Pound locks were first used in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD), having been pioneered by the Song politician and naval eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caixa Econômica Federal
Caixa Econômica Federal (, ''Federal Savings Bank''), also referred to as Caixa, is a state-owned Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. It is the fourth largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the fourth largest in Latin America, and the eighty-third largest bank in the world. It is also the largest 100% government-owned financial institution in Latin America. History The bank was founded by Emperor Pedro II on 12 January 1861, as ''Caixa Económica e Monte de Socorro'' in Rio de Janeiro as a financial institution destined to collect national savings, mostly from the poor. Over the years, several similar institutions were created until most of them were merged into present-day Caixa Econômica in 1967. The 1970s were particularly lucrative for the bank, mostly due to its near-monopoly on savings for the poor and lower-middle classes, the management of Brazilian state (federal) lotteries and being the only lawful pawn broker in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banco Do Brasil
Banco do Brasil S.A. ( en, Bank of Brazil) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King of Portugal, on Wednesday, 12 October 1808. It is the first largest banking institution in Brazil, as well as the first largest in Latin America, and the seventieth largest bank in the world. Banco do Brasil is controlled by the Brazilian government and is listed at the B3 stock exchange in São Paulo. It has been one of the four most profitable Brazilian banks since 2000 (along with Itaú Unibanco, Banco Bradesco and Banco Santander) and holds a strong leadership position in retail banking. History Banco do Brasil was founded in 1808 by then prince regent John (later King John VI of Portugal) to finance the kingdom's public debt when he moved from Europe to Brazil. "As a mixed institution under state control, the Banco do Brasil s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), two of five international organizations owned by the World Bank Group. It was established along with the International Monetary Fund at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference. After a slow start, its first loan was to France in 1947. In the 1970s, it focused on loans to developing world countries, shifting away from that mission in the 1980s. For the last 30 years, it has included NGOs and environmental groups in its loan portfolio. Its loan strategy is influenced by the Sustainable Development Goals as well as environmental and social safeguards. , the World Bank is run by a president and 25 executive directors, as well as 29 various vice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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