The Haditha Dam () or Qadisiya Dam is an

earth-fill dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

on the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

, north of

Haditha Haditha (, ''al-Ḥadīthah'') is a town in the Al Anbar Governorate, about northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River. Its population of around 46,500 people, predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs. The town lies near ...

(

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

), creating

Lake Qadisiyah A man-made reservoir in Al-Anbar, Iraq, Lake Qadisiyah () sits on the north side of the Haditha Dam. Qadisiyah was formed by the damming of the Euphrates river above Haditha, Iraq. It has of shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, se ...

(). The dam is just over long and high. The purpose of the dam is to generate

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

, regulate the flow of the Euphrates and provide water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

. It is the second-largest hydroelectric contributor to the power system in

behind the

Mosul Dam Mosul Dam (), formerly known as Saddam Dam (), is the largest dam in Iraq. It is located on the Tigris river in the western governorate of Nineveh, upstream of the city of Mosul. The dam serves to generate hydroelectricity and provide water for ...

Project history

The Haditha Dam project was conceived in the late 1960s; construction began in 1977. The dam embankment was designed by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's Ministry of Energy, with its power station and equipment being designed and constructed by various Yugoslavian firms; these included Hidrogradnja of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, as the prime contractor;

Energoprojekt Energoprojekt holding (full legal name: ''Energoprojekt holding Types of business entity#Serbia, a.d. Beograd'') is a Serbian construction company with headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia. Founded in 1951, it enters into the composition of BELEX15 an ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

for

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

; Metalna of

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

for intake gates, bottom outlet gate,

radial gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for its inventor, the Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. Tainter, an employee of the lumber firm Knapp, ...

Litostroj Litostroj is a Slovenian Heavy industry, heavy machinery Manufacturing, manufacturer based in Ljubljana. Its products include mainly water turbines for hydroelectric powerplants. Most of the production is exported. It provided around 8000 MW of in ...

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

for

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

; and

Rade Končar Rade Končar ( sr-cyr, Раде Кончар; 6 August or 28 October 1911 – 22 May 1942) was a Serbs of Croatia, Croatian Serb politician and leader of the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia and Governorate of Dalmatia, ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

for generators and

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

s. It was conceived of as a multi-purpose project that would generate hydroelectric power, regulate the flow of the Euphrates, and provide water for

. Construction took place between 1977 and 1987 and was a joint undertaking by the

and Iraqi governments. The cost of the initial construction of the Haditha Dam is estimated at US$830 million.

Flooding of Usiyeh and Anah

With the creation of the Haditha Reservoir, the ancient archeological site of Usiyeh along with

Anah Anah or Ana (, ), formerly also known as Anna, is an Iraqi town on the Euphrates approximately midway between the Gulf of Alexandretta and the Persian Gulf. Anah lies from west to east on the right bank along a bend of the river just before it tu ...

were flooded. Usiyeh was located on the right bank of the Euphrates between Haditha and Anah and was excavated by the Japanese Archaeological Expedition in Iraq between 1982 and 1983. A multi-room underground structure along with a staircase, four life-size lion

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

statues, three medium-sized lion statues and one lion statuette were found. These findings dated back to 1800–1700 BC. Ancient Anah was also flooded and contained a prized

minaret A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

. Today, only modern Anah exists.

After the 2003 U.S. invasion

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq,

United States Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...

seized the Haditha Dam on 1 April in order to prevent it from being destroyed. Destruction of the dam would have significantly affected the functioning of the country's

electrical grid An electrical grid (or electricity network) is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids consist of power stations, electrical substations to step voltage up or down, electric power tran ...

and could cause major flooding downstream from the dam. Afterwards, various

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

units had been stationed at the dam, as well as a small detachment from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. In 2004, the Gulf Region Division of the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

(USACE) carried out restoration work on one of the

to restore the dam's hydroelectric power station to full capacity. According to the

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

, the inauguration of this turbine on 3 June 2004 signified the first time since 1990 that the power station operated at full capacity. In the same year, a new power line was established between Haditha and Baghdad with the help of the USACE to restore a line that had previously been destroyed. This new line, stretching over a distance of with 504 towers, has an operating voltage of 400 kV and allows 350 MW of power from the Haditha Dam to be added to the national electrical grid. The cost of the line was US$56.7 million and was paid by Iraq's oil revenues.

Characteristics of the dam and the reservoir

The dam is situated in a narrow stretch of the Euphrates Valley where a small secondary channel branched off the main channel. The width of the main channel was whereas the secondary channel was wide. The hydroelectric station is located in this secondary channel. The Haditha Dam is long and high, with the hydropower station at from the dam's southern edge. The crest is at

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

and wide. Total volume of the dam is . In cross-section, the dam consists of an asphaltic concrete cutoff wall at its core, followed by mealy detrital dolomites, and a mixture of sand and gravel. These materials were chosen because they are readily available near the construction site. This core is protected by a reinforced concrete slab revetment on the upstream side of the dam, and a rock-mass revetment on the downstream side. The power station contains six

Kaplan turbine The Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to a ...

s capable of generating 660 MW. The turbines are installed in a hydrocombine unit that comprises both the

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

and the hydro-powerplant in one structure. Maximum discharge of the spillway is per second. Two bottom outlets on the dam can discharge per second for irrigation. Both these outlets and the spillway are controlled by

tainter gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for its inventor, the Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. Tainter, an employee of the lumber firm Knapp, ...

s. The Haditha Reservoir or Lake Qadisiyah has a maximum water storage capacity of and a maximum surface area of . Actual capacity is however , at which size the surface area is . At maximum capacity, annual

evaporation Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the Interface (chemistry), surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. A high concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evapora ...

from the lake is estimated at .

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Iraq, Water, Renewable energy Dams in Iraq Hydroelectric power stations in Iraq Dams on the Euphrates River Al Anbar Governorate Earth-filled dams Dams completed in 1987 Iraq–Soviet Union relations 1987 establishments in Iraq Energy infrastructure completed in 1987 Soviet foreign aid Crossings of the Euphrates