The Aras Dam ( az, Araz su anbarı; fa, سد ارس) is an

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

on the

Aras River , az, Araz, fa, ارس, tr, Aras The Aras (also known as the Araks, Arax, Araxes, or Araz) is a river in the Caucasus. It rises in eastern Turkey and flows along the borders between Turkey and Armenia, between Turkey and the Nakhchivan excl ...

along the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. It is located downstream of

Poldasht Poldasht ( fa, پلدشت; Azerbaijani: Daş Körpü , also Romanized as Pol Dasht, Pol’desht, Pol-e Dasht, and Pul Dasht; also known as Araplar) is a city and capital of Poldasht County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its ...

in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran and

Nakhchivan City Nakhchivan ( az, Naxçıvan ; arm, Նախիջևան, Nakhijevan) is the capital of the eponymous Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, located west of Baku. The municipality of Nakhchivan consists of the city of Nakhchivan, the settleme ...

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic ( az, Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası, ), is a landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republic with a popula ...

, Azerbaijan. The primary purpose of the dam is

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power production and water supply.

History

On 11 August 1957, a protocol was signed between the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and Iran in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

to construct the Aras Dam on the Aras River. This was done at a time when Azerbaijan was under Soviet control. Construction on the dam began in 1963 and it was completed in 1970. The dam was officially inaugurated on 28 June 1971 by Iranian deputy prime minister Safi Asfia and the

Deputy Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Soviet Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...

Mikhail Yefremov. A supplementary protocol to the border agreement of 1954 between Iran and the Soviet Union was signed on 7 May 1970 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to redelimit the border along the Aras reservoir.

Specifications

Dam

The Aras Dam is tall from its foundation and tall from the riverbed. It is an embankment type with sand fill and a clay core. It is long and wide on its crest.

Reservoir

The Araz reservoir ( az, Araz su anbarı), also known as Araz Water Junction ( az, Araz Su Qovsağı) is a large

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

created by the Aras Dam and shared by Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan Republic and

. At a normal water elevation of above sea level, the dam withholds a

of with a surface area of . Of the reservoir's normal capacity, of it is active or "useful" while is inactive or dead storage. The maximum storage of the reservoir is . The reservoir is long and wide. The average depth at normal water levels is . There are a total of four hydro-electric stations in Azerbaijan and Iran (two on each side) with four turbines. The discharge capacity of one spillway of a station is . Since opening, the reservoir has provided irrigation water for of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the ...

in Azerbaijan and Iran, including about in

Dasht-e Moghan Dasht ( fa, دشت, links=no), Dasht-e, Dashhti (), or Dasht-i, are Persian words for "plain" or "plain of", and may refer to: Places Afghanistan * Dasht-e Borsoneh, a village in the Bamyan Province * Dasht-e Leili desert, site of the alleged D ...

area.

Power station

The dam's

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

contains four turbine-generators for a capacity of each. Two of the generators are on the Iranian side and the other two on the Azerbaijani side along with the dam's spillway. The discharge capacity of one spillway of a station is . The total installed capacity is 44 MW.

References

External links

{{stack, {{Portal, Azerbaijan, Iran, Water, Renewable energy Dams completed in 1970 Dams in Azerbaijan Dams in West Azerbaijan Province Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Iran–Soviet Union relations Earth-filled dams Hydroelectric power stations in Iran Hydroelectric power stations in Azerbaijan Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union