The Bekhme Dam ( ku, بەنداوی بێخمە ,Bendava Bêxme) is an unfinished multi-purpose rock-fill
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
on the
Great Zab northeast of
Erbil, in the
Erbil Governorate
ku, پارێزگای ھەولێر
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of
Kurdistan Region
Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
.
The main purposes of the dam would be to produce 1,500 MW of hydro-electricity and to manage flooding. If completed, the high Bekhme Dam will be the largest in Iraq. Construction on the dam began in 1979 and was halted during the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...
. Construction started again in 1988 and halted in 1990, prior to the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
. In post-2003 Iraq, the
Kurdistan Regional Government
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq.
The cabinet is selected by the m ...
began efforts to rebuild the Bekhme Dam.
Initial construction
The Bekhme Dam was planned in the 1950s with a preliminary study done by
Harza Engineering Co., and in 1979 and through the early 1980s the project was redesigned by EPDC of Japan. Construction was assigned to a consortium of Turkish-Yugoslavian firms (
ENKA
is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form, which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than '' ryūkōka'' music, ...
Hidrogradnja and
Energoprojekt
Energoprojekt holding (full legal name: ''Energoprojekt holding a.d. Beograd'') is a Serbian construction company with headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in 1951, it enters into the composition of BELEX15 and BELEXline, the two main indi ...
). Construction on the project started in 1987 with access roads, residential camps, construction facilities and the development of quarries and borrow areas. Tunneling and bulk excavation works started in 1988. The works were halted in late 1990 after the UN sanctions due to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, and with the onset of the Gulf War, as well as consequential poor security environment. By June 1990, the first stage of the construction was complete, the diversion of the Great Zab, facilitated by an incomplete high clay core rockfill cofferdam, which was to become part of the upstream shoulder of the main dam, and through two large diversion tunnels.
The dam project involves a large underground power house and transformers chamber, largely completed into the left abutment. The power intake and spillway intake are also located on the left abutment, with associated tunnels through the limestone. Those tunnels emerge through one structure on the left abutment, downstream of the dam, augmented by a plunge pool structure. A system of drainage tunnels was excavated into the left and right abutments at the foot of the main dam. The Bekhme Dam is designed with a central clay core, two upstream and downstream filter zones, and rockfill shoulders (limestone). The upstream and downstream faces of the dam are designed with gradients of 1 vertical to 2.5 horizontal. The dam project was expected to be completed in 1992, resulting in a reservoir with a capacity of and a surface area of . There is a potential for a pumped-storage scheme (several gigawatts) to be constructed on the left abutment; that still requires further optimisation and investigation.
After the Gulf War, US$175 million worth of equipment were reported to have been stolen by Kurds in the area.
![Bekhma Tunnel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Bekhma_Tunnel.jpg)
Current project
As early as July 2007, the Kurdistan Regional Government has expressed interest in finishing the Bekhme Dam in order to produce hydro-electricity and store needed water. However, with a drought in Iraq, in 2008 the
Government of Iraq
The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as w ...
expressed concern with the Kurdistan Regional Government over dam construction that may lead to water shortages in southern Iraq. In addition, around 20,000 people would be relocated along with the probable flooding of the stone age
Shanidar Cave
Shanidar Cave ( ku, Zewî Çemî Şaneder ,ئەشکەوتی شانەدەر, ) is an archaeological site located on Bradost Mountain, within the Zagros Mountains, in the Erbil Governorate of Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq.
It is known for the ...
and the 11th century BC village
Zawi Chemi Shanidar. Despite this, the need for water storage in Iraq is important and in August 2008, US$33 million was spent on preparatory works for continued construction. The Bekhme Dam's final cost is estimated as US$2.6 billion.
Costs of Bekhme Dam
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References
External links
{{stack, {{Portal, Iraq, Water, Renewable energy
Dams in Iraq
Dams on the Great Zab River
Hydroelectric power stations in Iraq
Rock-filled dams
Erbil Governorate
Geography of Iraqi Kurdistan
Proposed hydroelectric power stations
Proposed renewable energy power stations in Iraq