Mosul Dam

Mosul Dam, formerly known as Saddam Dam, is the largest dam in Iraq. It is located on the Tigris river in the western governorate of Ninawa, upstream of the city of Mosul. The dam serves to generate hydroelectricity and provide water for downstream irrigation. At full capacity, the structure holds about of water and provides electricity to the 1.7 million residents of Mosul.The dam's main power station contains four Francis turbine-generators. A pumped-storage hydroelectricity power plant with a capacity of and a run-of-the-river dam downstream with a 62MW capacity also belong to the Mosul Dam scheme. It is the fourth largest dam in the Middle East, as measured by reserve capacity, capturing snowmelt from Turkey, some north.Built on a karst foundation, concerns over the dam's instability have led to major remediation and rehabilitation efforts since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.CharacteristicsThe Mosul Dam is a 113m tall and 3.4km long earth-fill embankment-type with a clay-core. The width of the crest is 10m. At an elevation of 330m above sea level, the reservoir, named Lake Dahuk, withholds 11100000000m3 of water. Of that capacity 8100000000m3 is active (or useful for power and downstream releases) and 2950000000m3 is inactive (dead) storage. On the east side of the dam is the service spillway which is controlled by five radial gates and has a maximum discharge capacity of 13000m3/s. Further to the east is a fuse-plug-controlled emergency spillway with a 4000m3/s capacity.