Shihgang Dam () is a concrete gravity

barrage dam A barrage is a type of low-head, diversion dam which consists of a number of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water passing through. This allows the structure to regulate and stabilize river water elevation up ...

across the

Dajia River Dajia River () is the fifth-longest river in Taiwan located in the north-central of the island. It flows through Taichung City for 142 km. The sources of the Dajia are: Hsuehshan and Nanhu Mountain in the Central Mountain Range. The Dajia R ...

Shigang District Shigang District () is a rural district in Taichung City, Taiwan. Geography It has a population total of 15,405 and an area of 18.2105 square kilometres. Administrative divisions Shigang, Wanan, Jiufang, Jinxing, Longxing, Wanxing, Meizi, T ...

and

Dongshi District Dongshi District (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tûng-sṳ) is a suburban district in eastern Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan). It is the third largest district by area in Taichung City after Heping District and Taiping District. A majority of the resi ...

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, located near

Fengyuan District Fengyuan District () is a District (Taiwan), district located in north-central Taichung, Taiwan on the south bank of the Dajia River. Fengyuan district is the third most populated district among former Taichung County, ranking after Dali and Tai ...

. The dam was built from 1974 to 1977 for flood control and irrigation purposes, and stands high and long, holding a reservoir with an original capacity of . The dam was heavily damaged in the

921 earthquake The Chi-Chi earthquake (later also known as the Jiji earthquake) (), also known as the great earthquake of September 21 (), was a 7.3 ML or 7.7 Mw earthquake which occurred in Jiji (Chi-Chi), Nantou County, Taiwan on Tuesday, 21 Se ...

of 1999, which caused the collapse of its northern end. Subsequently, an embankment cofferdam was built to prevent water from flowing through the breach, while the collapsed section has been retained as a memorial. Since this reduces the storage capacity of the dam, it is no longer used for flood control, but remains an important source of agricultural water. Shih Gang Earthquake

References

1977 establishments in Taiwan Dams in Taichung Dams completed in 1977 Dam failures Gravity dams 1999 Jiji earthquake {{taiwan-dam-stub

See also

References