The is a

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, aqua ...

on 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 Prefecture, Iwate and Miyagi Prefecture, Miyagi Prefectures of Japan, Pr ...

, located in

Morioka is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 August 2023, the city had an estimated population of 283,981 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of t ...

Iwate Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. It is the second-largest Japanese prefecture (behind Hokkaido) at , with a population of 1,165,886 (as of July 1, 2023). Iwate Prefecture borders Aomori Pre ...

on the island of

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

Shijūshida Dam is the fourth in a series of five multipurpose dams built directly on the main stream of the Kitakami River, starting with the

Tase Dam is a multipurpose dam located on the Sarugaishi River in the former town of Tōwa which is now a part of the city of Hanamaki in Iwate Prefecture, in the Tohoku region of northern Japan. Completed in 1954, it is managed by the Tohoku R ...

in 1941. The project was launched by the Economic Stabilization Bureau in 1947 following

Typhoon Kathleen Typhoon Kathleen was a typhoon that approached Japan in September 1947. Kathleen brought record heavy rain at the time, causing major destruction in the Kanto region. Meteorological history Kathleen struck the Boso Peninsula and the entire K ...

in September 1947 (which killed 1547 people). The need for a dam primarily for

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

was emphasized by

Typhoon Ione Typhoon Ione was a catastrophic and deadly tropical cyclone that left over 512 confirmed deaths and another 326 to be missing as it affected Japan, with the majority of the fatalities coming from the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture. It al ...

in September of the following year, which killed an additional 1956 people. The dam was first completed by 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 Japa ...

in 1968.

Design

The Shijūshida Dam was designed as a concrete gravity arch dam; however, since the rocks on both banks were weak, the dam was completed as a hybrid design with earthen dams on the sides and a concrete gravity dam in the center. The project was complicated by the extreme acidity of the water (reaching pH of 4.0) due to runoff from the

Matsuo mine , was an iron and sulphur mine located in the village of Matsuo, Iwate Prefecture in the Tohoku region of northern Japan. The area is now part of the city of Hachimantai. The mine opened in 1914 and closed in 1979 leaving a ghost town behind. ...

upstream. This acidity resulted in the use of special concrete and alloy materials. Generators for the associated

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

plant produce 15,100 KW of electricity.

References

*Japan Commission on Large Dams. ''Dams in Japan: Past, Present and Future''. CRC Press (2009).
photo page with data

Official home page
Dams in Iwate Prefecture Dams completed in 1968 Hydroelectric power stations in Japan Gravity dams Morioka, Iwate {{Iwate-geo-stub