The Nampho Dam or West Sea Dam, also known as the West Sea Barrage or West Sea Lock Gate, is a

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 ...

located 15 km west of the special city of

Nampho Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is a major city in North Korea which is the country's fourth-largest by population. The city is an important seaport in the country as it lies on the northern shore of the T ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. It is a large, eight-km-long system of dams, three lock chambers, and 36

sluice A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...

s, allowing the passage of ships up to 50,000 tons. The dam closes the estuary of the

Taedong River The Taedong River () is a large river in North Korea. The river rises in the Rangrim Mountains of the country's north where it then flows southwest into Korea Bay at Namp'o.Suh, Dae-Sook (1987) "North Korea in 1986: Strengthening the Soviet ...

off from the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

. It was built by the

North Korean Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Ground Force, the Naval Force, the Air Force, the St ...

from 1981 to 1986, with the resources of the whole country directed to this main construction project. The West Sea Barrage Line runs over the dam. The stated goal of the dam was: * The prevention of

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

intrusion into the

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

, thus solving the water supply problem; * The irrigation of additional land, enlarging the arable territory of the region. The dam is considered a major accomplishment of North Korea,North Korea
, ''Travel the Whole World'', Retrieved 2011-05-03 and is a commonly seen backdrop for North Korean television news broadcasts from

Korean Central News Agency The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) () is the state news agency of North Korea. The agency portrays the views of the North Korean government for both domestic and foreign consumption. It was established on December 5, 1946, and now features ...

. It is also a popular stop for tour groups of international tourists, for whom there is a visitor centre on

P'i Do Island P'i Do Island is an island in North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to ...

where films are shown about the construction of the dam and the locks. The dam's estimated total cost was US$4 billion.Oh, Kong Dan & Ralph C. Hassig. ''North Korea Through the Looking Glass'', Brookings Institution Press, 2000, p53

Notes

a The term West Sea Gate or West Sea Lock are also used for a smaller dam located in

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

, South Korea.

References

External links

Interactive Virtual Tour of Nampo Dam
* * North Korean propaganda film on the West Sea Barrage, via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Part 123
{{coord, 38.6757, 125.1764, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:PK, display=title Dams in North Korea South Pyongan Dams completed in 1986 Tidal barrages Buildings and structures in Nampo 1986 establishments in North Korea 20th-century architecture in North Korea