GURI DAM

officially Embalse Ral Leoni hydroelectric project and reservoir on the Caron River, Bolvar State, eastern Venezuela, on the site of the former village of Guri (submerged by the reservoir), near the former mouth of the Guri River. The first stage of the facility was completed in 1969 as a 348-foot- (106-metre-) high earth and rockfill dam with a crest length of 2,264 feet (690 m) and an installed electrical capacity of 1,750 megawatts, housed in a powerhouse in a central concrete gravity section of the dam. The facility was designed to be enlarged after stage one in two additional stages, whose scheduling would be determined by national power needs. These needs grew so fast, however, that stage two, begun in 1976, encompassed both later stages, and final work was completed in 1986. The dam's height was increased to 531 feet (162 m), and both wings were extended, increasing the crest length to 37,222 feet (11,409 m). The total projected hydroelectric capacity is 10,300 megawatts, making the facility one of the largest in the world. The reservoir impounded by the dam had a capacity of 111,877,000 acre-feet (138,000,000,000 cubic m), permitting its use for flood storage as well as floodwater evacuation.