tidal barrage A tidal barrage is a dam-like structure used to capture the energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or river due to tidal forces. Instead of damming water on one side like a conventional dam, a tidal barrage allows water to flow ...

is an artificial obstruction at the mouth of a tidal

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams a ...

, in contrast to a normal barrage along a river's inland course.

Purpose

The common primary functions of a barrage are: * Increase the depth of a river (similar to a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

) * Maintain a separation between fresh and salt water * Reduce the risk of tidal

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

up the river Secondary functions may include: * Tidal

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stor ...

Artificial whitewater An artificial whitewater course (AWWC) is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids. Course types Main types of course: Fl ...

leisure centres * Form a

Coastal reservoir Coastal reservoir is a type of reservoir to store fresh water on sea coast area near a river delta. Saemanguem in South Korea, Marina Barrage in Singapore, Qingcaosha and Plover Cove in China, Delta Works in Netherlands, Thanneermukkom Bund in I ...

Notable barrages

Cardiff Bay Barrage Cardiff Bay Barrage ( cy, Morglawdd Bae Caerdydd) lies across the mouth of Cardiff Bay, Wales between Queen Alexandra Dock and Penarth Head. It was one of the largest civil engineering projects in Europe during construction in the 1990s. Histo ...

Goolwa Barrages The Goolwa Barrages comprise five barrage structures in the channels separating Lake Alexandrina from the sea at the mouth of the River Murray and the Coorong in South Australia. They were constructed principally to reduce salinity levels in ...

Marina Barrage Marina Barrage is a dam in southern Singapore built at the confluence of five rivers, across the Marina Channel between Marina East and Marina South. First conceptualised in 1987 by then prime minister Lee Kuan Yew to help achieve greater self ...

* Prakasham Barrage * Swansea barrage * Tees Barrage * West Sea Barrage {{Gallery, height=150, width=150, lines=4 , File:NK-Hafen Nampo.jpg, Partial view of the West Sea Barrage near Namp'o, North Korea in 1989 , File:Cardiff Bay Barrage lock.jpg, Lock in Cardiff Bay Barrage , File:Marina Barrage Bridge.jpg, Marina barrage bridge

Power Station Barrages

Rance tidal power plant The Rance Tidal Power Station is a tidal power station located on the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France. Opened in 1966 as the world's first tidal power station, it is currently operated by Électricité de France and was for 45 ye ...

Annapolis Royal Generating Station The Annapolis Royal Generating Station was a tidal power generating station in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada. When operational, it was the only tidal generating station in North America and was one of the few in the world. Located u ...

(Decommissioned) * Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station *

Kislaya Guba Tidal Power Station The Kislaya Guba Tidal Power Station is an experimental project in Kislaya Guba, Russia. The station is the world's 4th largest tidal power plant in operation since the Annapolis Royal Generating Station ceased operation. With an output capacity ...

Jiangxia Tidal Power Station The Jiangxia Tidal Power Station (江厦潮汐电站) is the fourth largest tidal power station in the world, located in Wuyantou, Wenling City, Zhejiang Province, China. Although the proposed design for the facility was 3,000 kW, the cur ...

Proposed barrages

Severn Barrage The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary (and Bristol Channel) have existed since the 19t ...

across the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

between

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Mersey Barrage The Mersey Barrage is a proposed scheme for building a tidal barrage across the Mersey Estuary. In December 2022, the Liverpool City Region mayor announced cooperation between the City Region and K-water of South Korea, who built and operates ...

across the Mersey Estuary in

Purpose

Notable barrages

Power Station Barrages

Proposed barrages

See also