Damn, that's a big dam! - Itaipu Dam

A visit to a hydroelectric dam doesn’t sound like an exciting tour, but when it’s the largest of its kind in the world, there is a whole new perspective on it. And after getting up at 3am and riding across the country in a mini-van with a Fred Flintstone-style suspension system, the Itaipu Dam did not disappoint. The dam is named after a small island that was covered by water when the dam was built. In the Guarani language, Itaipu means ‘singing stone’ or literally ‘island that sings’. The reason the Guaranies considered it to be a singing island is unknown.

We approached the dam through Itaipu Binacional, the Paraguayan/Brazilian company that operates and controls the hydroelectric monstrosity. Here we had to show our passports, as if we were entering a different country, to take a bus tour of the facility.

The only stop on the tour was a large pavilion on the west bank overlooking the Parańa River, which forms the border between Paraguay and Brazil. From this vantage point, the spillways sprawled out before us like enormous water slides, dry but stained with years of use.

Across the river, buses carrying tourists appeared the size of ants crawling along the banks that were carved out of the landscape for the diversion channels, which were used to alter the course of the river so the dam could be built.



Huge conduits from that distance looked like household PVC pipe that can be bought from Home Depot. However, their diameter was larger than the length of the tour buses.






I found it amazing when our tour guide told us that Itaipu Dam produced twenty-five percent of Brazil’s energy needs. That’s significant considering the size and population of Brazil. Paraguay, on the other hand, receives more power than it needs. In fact, it sells the energy it doesn’t need back to Brazil.

My overall impression of Itaipu Dam was very impressed. The entire spectacle and feat of engineering overwhelmed the senses and baffled the mind.

To read more about my travels in Paraguay and Brazil, go to http://www.pennedbyalanscott.com