Beyond The Surface
Grande Dixence Dam, Val d'Herens, Switzerland.
With its 285m height it is the highest dam in Europe and the third in the world. Of its type, a gravity dam, it is the tallest dam in the world. Its imposing wall forms the Lac des Dix which has a maximum capacity of 400 million cubic meters and when full has a depth of approximately 230m. 4 hydroeletric power plants convert the energy from the 400 million mâ of water in the Lac des Dix into electricity. They develop a total power of over 2000 MW - almost twice that produced by a nuclear power plant. Every year, the water held by the Grande Dixence dam is used to supply the equiva-lent of 400000 households with electricity.