is a multipurpose

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, a ...

on the

Shizukuishi River The is a river in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū in Japan. The river is long and has a watershed of . The Shizukuishi River rises in the Ōu Mountains just south of Mount Akita-Komagatake in the town of Shizukuis ...

, a branch of the

Kitakami River The is the fourth largest river in Japan and the largest in the Tōhoku region. It is long and drains an area of . page 793 It flows through mostly rural areas of Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. The source of the river is the Mount Nanashirug ...

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

Iwate Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture at , with a population of 1,210,534 (as of October 1, 2020). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefectur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, completed in 1981.

History

Gosho Dam is the fifth of five large dams created in the

valley for irrigation, industrial water, flood control and electric power generation under the aegis of the Ministry of Construction. The project was strongly promoted by the government from 1954, although plans for a dam in the area for the purpose of

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

had been drawn up in 1941. Preliminary site work began from 1953; however, negotiations for compensation for the 520 households displaced by the dam proved to be complicated, and were not concluded until in 1981, the year that the dam opened. During the

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

phase the formation of a community driven development association to work alongside

government agencies A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...

resulted in maximizing community benefits from the development, including creation of a multi-functional community asset and tourist attraction.

Design

The initial design for the dam in 1941 called for a concrete gravity dam with a height of 32.5 meters. However, after many revisions, the Gosho Dam was completed as a hybrid design incorporating a concrete gravity dam with a central spillway together with a sloped wall

rockfill 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, ...

. The dam was completed in 1981 by a joint venture of the

Kajima Corporation is one of the oldest and largest construction companies in Japan. Founded in 1840, the company has its headquarters in Motoakasaka, Minato, Tokyo. The company is known for its DIB-200 proposal. The company stock is traded on four leading Jap ...

with Nishimatsu Construction. The dam supplies the 13,000 KW Gosho Hydroelectric Power Plant. The Gosho Reservoir created by the dam is a popular vacation location due to its ease of access to the metropolis of Morioka.

References

External links

Gosho Dam Park

Japan Dam network
{{Dams in Iwate Prefecture Dams in Iwate Prefecture Dams completed in 1981 Hydroelectric power stations in Japan Morioka, Iwate