4. Akosombo Dam, Ghana
Photo credit: Cityfmonline
The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is an embankment dam on the great Volta River in southeastern Ghana. Built between 1961 and 1969 at a cost of $258 million by Italian firm Impreglio, the dam was built primarily to supply hydroelectric power to Ghana’s aluminium smelting industries.
The dam has a height of 114 meters, a length of 660 meters, and a width of 366 meters. Its reservoir has a water holding capacity of 7,900,000 cubic meters. The construction of the dam resulted in the flooding of parts of the Volta River Basin, which led to the creation of Lake Volta.
Lake Volta holds the record as the largest man-made lake in the world by surface area. It covers 8,502 square kilometres, a significant 3.6 percent of Ghana’s total land area.
