page_title: Tarbela Dam
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Tarbela Dam / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: As part of the U.S. government's long-term commitment to improve energy supply in the country, USAID is supporting the completion of several high-impact energy sector projects in Pakistan. USAID is modernizing three generators in Tarbela Dam. In addition, we are helping construct Satpara Dam, providing support to Gomal Zam Dam, and upgrading the thermal plants at Jamshoro, Guddu, and Muzaffargarh. USAID is also partnering with the Government of Pakistan to reduce inefficiencies in the use of electricity and reform the sector so that it can grow with the economy and pay for regular maintenance.
context_page_description: Tarbela Dam is an earth-filled dam along the Indus River in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Located in the Haripur mainly and in some area of Swabi of the province, the dam is about 30 km from the city of Swabi, 105 km northwest of Islamabad, and 125 km east of Peshawar. It is the largest earth-filled dam in the world, and also the largest dam by structural volume.
  The dam was completed in 1976 and was designed to store water from the Indus River for irrigation, flood control, and the generation of hydroelectric power. The dam is 143 metres high above the riverbed. The dam’s reservoir, Tarbela Lake, has a surface area of approximately 250 square kilometres.
  The primary objective of the dam was to supply water for irrigation by storing flows during the monsoon period and subsequently releasing stored water during the low flow period in winter.The installed capacity of the 4,888 MW Tarbela hydroelectric power stations will increase to 6,298 MW after completion of the planned fifth extension financed by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the World Bank.
context_section_description: Construction of Tarbela Dam was carried out in three stages to meet the diversion requirements of the river. Construction was undertaken by the Italian firm Salini Impregilo.
caption: Generators in the Tarbela Dam
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D90", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2011:04:28 13:03:39", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "228", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "33652", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "33780", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8841", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:04:28 13:03:39", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:04:28 13:03:39", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Day white fluorescent (N 4600 - 5400K)", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3216", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2136", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "33622", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}