The Karun-4 Dam is an

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthen ...

on the

Karun River The Karun ( fa, کارون, ) is the Iranian river with the highest water flow, and its only navigable river. It is long. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as t ...

located at 180 km southwest of Shahr-e-Kord in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari,

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 ...

. The Karun has the highest discharge of all the Iranian rivers. Its construction is aimed at electric power supply of 2107 million kWh annually and controlling floods in the upper Karun. The dam is a concrete double curvature arch-type and high from the foundation. The arch dam design is an ideal one for a dam built in a narrow, rocky gorge to hold back water in a reservoir. The dam is curved. Because of the arch shape, the force of the backed up water presses downward against the dam and has the effect of strengthening the dam foundation. The dam withholds a

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 ...

with a surface area of and capacity of . The dam's first study was conducted in 1995 and river diversion began in 1997. Concrete pouring began in 2006 and the power plant began producing electricity in November 2010. On December 11, 2010, the second generator for the dam became operational and was connected to the grid. The dam will eventually have an installed capacity of 1,020 MW. The dam was inaugurated on 6 July 2011 by Iranian President

Mahmood Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

Objectives

It was built to fulfill the followings: *To produce an average annual hydropower energy as much as 2100 GW-h. *To join the cascade dams on the Karun River, hence regulate the flow in order to supply the water required by the industry and agriculture downstream. *To control the destructive floods of the Karun River.

Cost

The dam construction was costed 8600 billion Rials financed by public resources including national and local budget, domestic banks facilities, bonds, as well as foreign facilities (finance, loan, etc.).Initial estimate of annual income from the electricity production amounted to 1353 billion Rials (642 Rials per kilo watt hour).

Build Contractor

1. Daelim (Korea) + Sato (Japan): Main Civil Works
2. Ilbau (Austria) + Forman (Iran): Preconstruction Works
3. Machine Sazi Arak (Iran): Hydraulic Steel Structures
4. Farab (Iran) + Harbin (China): Mechanical Equipment
5. Farab (Iran) + Elin (Austria): Electrical I&C and HVAC Equipment
6. IEO (Iran): GIS Switchgear

References

{{Dams and reservoirs in Iran Hydroelectric power stations in Iran Reservoirs in Iran Buildings and structures in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province Dams in Khuzestan Province Dams completed in 2010 Arch dams Dams on the Karun River Energy infrastructure completed in 2011 2011 establishments in Iran Tourist attractions in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province

Objectives

Cost

Build Contractor

See also

References