Question 2 of 21

The Three Gorges Dam in _______ has the world's largest hydroelectric plant.

... The $59 billion Chinese dam took 17 years to complete. It could generate more than enough energy to power the entire country of Pakistan.

Question 3 of 21

How many bodies of unfortunate workmen are buried in Nevada's Hoover Dam?

... Despite persistent rumors, none of the 96 men who died at the dam site were buried during construction.

Question 4 of 21

The Syncrude Tailings Dam in Alberta, Canada, was built to hold materials left over from oil sands mining, such as water, silt, salts and leftover _________.

... "Tailings" consist primarily of organic material resulting from oil sands mining, where an extremely thick type of oil, bitumen, is extracted from sand or sandstone. Non-organic chemical solvents are also part of the tailings.

Question 5 of 21

Switzerland's Grande Dixence is the tallest __________ dam.

... The Swiss dam is 935 feet (285 meters) high and collects water melting from 35 glaciers. It is held in place by Earth's gravity pulling down on it.

Question 6 of 21

In the mid-1990s, severe structural problems with the Georgian Inguri Dam were identified. _________ funded the start of the restoration project.

... The tall arch dam had not been maintained sufficiently, and it was hazardous. The Swiss government paid for the initial repair work while the European Union financed further renovations.

Question 7 of 21

In 2009, 75 people were killed at the Russian Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam after __________.

... Two explosions hurled machinery and released massive amounts of rushing water. Investigators discovered that the accident was the result of poor management and technical flaws.

Question 8 of 21

In 1963, 2,500 people were killed by waters overflowing the Vajont Dam as the result of a _______.

... A landslide into the Italian dam's reservoir caused giant waves to wash over the dam, which had been in operation for only two years. It is currently not in use.

Question 9 of 21

The Almendra Dam is one of the tallest structures in Spain; its name means ___________.

... Salamanca's Almendra dam, built between 1964 and 1970, is actually three miles from the village of Almendra, which bears the name of a nut.

Question 10 of 21

Brazil's Itaipu Dam has been recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the _____________.

... The American Society of Civil Engineers, which identifies feats of construction, has placed the Itaipu Dam on its list of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World." Jointly constructed by Paraguay and Brazil, it is the world's second-largest hydroelectric plant, producing 78 percent of Paraguay's energy and 25 percent of Brazil's.

Question 11 of 21

The reservoir for the Aswan Dam, on the Nile River in Egypt, is named Lake __________.

... In the 1950s, Egyptian president Abdel-Nasser proposed a new dam to control Nile flooding. The resulting reservoir bears his name.

Question 12 of 21

In 2010, the Karun 4 Dam in Iran was "impounded." This means ___________.

... When a dam is "impounded" it begins retaining water in an area where that does not happen naturally. The Karun 4 Dam impounds water for flood control and hydroelectric power.

Question 13 of 21

It took 15 years for the Nargana Sagar dam in India to be completed, in part because _________.

... The Nargana Sagar dam is the largest masonry dam in the world. Rather than cement, it was made of individual stones, which increased the labor and time required to build it.

Question 14 of 21

In September 2012, a member of India's parliament submitted his resignation because the government ____________.

... The Indian government released water from the Srisailam dam, in an attempt to address a country-wide water shortage. Member of Parliament S.P.Y. Reddy stated that the area he represented was being treated unfairly because farmers there would not have access to the water they needed after the dam was opened.

Question 15 of 21

The Verzasca Dam in Switzerland was the site of a bungee-jumping scene in the movie "__________."

... The opening scene of "GoldenEye" featured James Bond bungee jumping more than 750 feet (229 meters) from a Russian dam, which was actually the Verzasca Dam.

Question 16 of 21

The Dworshak Dam in Idaho developed a 236-foot (72-meter) crack in 1980. As part of the repair process, it was patched with _________.

... The Dworshak Dam is the highest straight axis (not curved or angled) gravity dam in the Western Hemisphere. Its fracture was repaired with sawdust, cement and volcanic ash.

Question 17 of 21

Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta has the largest beaver dam in the world. Generations of beavers have worked on it since the ______.

... The beaver dam, which can bee seen from space, is about 2,800 feet (853 meters) long. Begun during the 1970s, beavers are still adding to the structure.

Question 18 of 21

The Roosevelt Dam in Arizona is unusual because its _______ has changed.

... Originally a masonry dam 280 feet (85 meters) high, the Roosevelt Dam was significantly modified between 1989 and 1996. The masonry was covered in cement, its height was increased by 77 feet (23.5 meters) and water storage capacity rose 20 percent.

Question 19 of 21

The Chalk Hills Dam is a particularly attractive dam because it has ________.

... The Chalk Hills Dam on the Wisconsin-Michigan boarder has stained glass images of engineers and bankers responsible for the dam's construction. It is also decorated with terrazzo tiles.

Question 20 of 21

The Glen Canyon Dam was built on the Colorado River. Because of this, _________ now live in the river.

... The damming of the river changed the ecosystem, erasing the habitat of some fish (e.g., Colorado pikeminnow) and opening it up to rainbow trout.

Question 21 of 21

About how many dams are there worldwide?

... From giant hydroelectric dams to small local dams, there are about 845,000 in the world.

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