Keban Dam

The Keban Dam on the upper Euphrates is one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project ( GAP or SAP ) in Turkey. It is located about 70 kilometers west of Elazig in Eastern Anatolia and serves the power generation and irrigation.

The dam is 210 m, the highest in the Middle East and the reservoir is 31 billion cubic meters by content area and the second largest after the Ataturk dam. The shut-off is a gravity dam made ​​of concrete in the middle part, which is combined with a dam of rockfill material on the sides. Annual hydropower plant that can afford 1,330 MW delivers 6,000 GWh of electricity. Electricity production began in 1974.

Among the numerous sunken in the lake ancient monuments includes the late Roman Karamagara - pointed arch bridge.

Said in Turkey Fırat nehri Euphrates feeds on its source river Karasu. This originates in the mountains near Erzurum, Erzincan and flows past flows from the north into the reservoir. The last tributary before it joins the Calti Suyu who comes over Divriği from the west. The second source of the river Euphrates is the Murat, which rises near the Ararat and from the east flows into the reservoir.

About 64 km downstream of the Euphrates Keban is again dammed in the Karakaya Dam. The Karakaya Dam extends up almost to the foot of the Keban Dam.