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=Itaipu Dam = =    =

 The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric power plant and is the largest if its kind in the world. It took 16 years, 1975 to 1991, to build the series of dams whose length totals 7,744 meters. The name "Itaipu", meaning "singing stones" in Guarani, was taken from an island that was near the construction site.   Construction on the dam began in February 1971 and then on April 26, 1973, Brazil and Paraguay signed the Itaipu Treaty, a legal document to allow for the hydroelectric exploitation of the Paraná River by the two countries. The main dam, about as high as a 65-story building, is made of hollow concrete segments, while the flanking wings are made of earth and rock fill. All of the iron and steel used to build the Itaipu Dam could build 300 Eiffel Towers. The powerhouse at Itaipu is one-half-mile long, is partially submerged, and contains 18 hydroelectric generators each 53-feet across. About 160-tons of water per second pours into each turbine, which generates 12,600-megawatts, which could almost power all of California. The dam supplies 72% of Paraguay's total energy consumption and 28% of Brazil's southern, southeast, and central west regions.  According to a worldwide survey, conducted by the American Society of civil Engineers, Itaipú is one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

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