First Dam

The first constructed dams were gravity dams, which are straight dam made
of masonry (stone brick) or concrete that resists the water load by means of
weight. ." Around 2950-2750 B.C, the ancient Egyptians built the first known
dam to exist. The dam was called the Sadd el-Kafara, which in Arabic means
"Dam of the Pagans. The dam was 37 ft tall, 348 ft wide at the crest and 265
ft at the bottom. The dam was made of rubble masonry walls on the outsides
and filled with 100,000 tons of gravel and stone. A limestone cover was
applied to resist erosion and wave action. The structure had no need for
cement because the shear weight of the structure was sufficient to ensure
stability. Using the expected hydrology for ancient times, the capacity was
estimated to be 20 million cubic ft or 460 acre-ft. The dam failed after a few
years and it was concluded that overflow was the cause of failure. The poor
workmanship from a hasty construction lead to the failure. The dam was not
watertight and water flowed through the structure quickly eroding it away.
Once the water overflowed the crest, it quickly eroded away the dam. The
dam was a failure and the Egyptians never attempted to build another dam
until modern times.

What is dam and Use

1. A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams.
Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide
water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial
use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in
conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used
to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed
between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of
retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees
(also known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into
specific land regions.
2. Dams have two main functions. The first is to store water to compensate
for fluctuations in river flow or in demand for water and energy. The second
to raise the level of the water upstream to enable water to be diverted into a
canal or to increase hydraulic head the difference in height between the
surface of a reservoir and the river downstream. The creation of storage and
head allow dams to generate electricity (hydropower provides nearly a fifth of
the worlds electricity); to supply water for agriculture, industries and

households; to control flooding; and to assist river navigation by providing

regular flows and drowning rapids. Other reasons for building large dams
include reservoir fisheries and leisure activities such as boating.