Characteristics

• The world's largest hydroelectric project
• Location: On the Parana River, 14 kilometers North of the International Bridge linking the cities of Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
• Built from 1975 to 1991
• Power plant has 18 generating units which produce 12,600 MW (megawatts) and 75 million MWh a year
• The energy production of the dam has broken several records (a new record will approximately reach the 80 million MWh a year mark)
• A major tourist attraction - received about 9 million visitors from 162 countries
• The distance of all the dams measures up to be 7744 meters
• Has 14 segmented sluice-gates, which have a total discharge rate of 62,200 cubic meters per second

Technology

• Took a great amount of materials to build the dam
• The volume of iron and steel used would be enough to build 380 Eiffel Towers
• The volume of concrete used is 15 times the amount used to build the Channel Tunnel between France and England

Wonder Qualities

• In an article by "Popular Mechanics" they said that "'to build [the Itaipu Dam], workers reenacted a labor of Hercules: they shifted the course of the seventh biggest river in the world and removed more than 50 million tons of earth and rock.'" (www.wonderclub.com)
• The article also mentioned that "'the true marvel of Itaipu, though, is its powerhouse ... a single building that puts out 12,600 megawatts -- enough to power most of California.'" (www.wonderclub.com)