Buildings & Structures
The Tallest Dams in the World
China's 315-meter Shuangjiangkou Dam took the world title in 2026, the year its first turbine went online, and nine of the 17 tallest dams in service are in China. This ranking uses structural height: the distance from the lowest point of the dam's foundation up to its crest, using the figure published by the dam's owner or an official record keeper where one exists. Sources often differ by a few meters for the same dam, depending on whether they measure from the foundation or the riverbed. Only man-made dams that are finished and working are included. That rules out natural landslide dams such as Tajikistan's 567-meter Usoi Dam, dams still being built such as Tajikistan's Rogun, and Italy's 261.6-meter Vajont Dam, which still stands but has held no reservoir since the 1963 disaster. "Completed" is the year each dam and its power station went into full service.
#1
Shuangjiangkou Dam — 315 m
High on the Dadu River in Sichuan's Aba prefecture, this gravel-core rockfill dam rises 315 meters, about as tall as a 100-story building. Its reservoir finished its first filling on May 1, 2025, and the first of its four 500-megawatt turbines was connected to the grid on June 26, 2026, which made it the tallest working dam on Earth. Its developer, CHN Energy, said on August 31, 2026 that three of the four units were in commercial operation. Once all four are running, the 2-gigawatt station is expected to produce about 7.7 billion kilowatt-hours a year. Wikipedia still gives the dam as 312 meters (314 from its foundation). The 315-meter figure comes from the developer and Chinese state media.[1]
#2
Jinping-I Dam — 305 m
Built in a deep gorge on the Jinping bend of the Yalong River in Sichuan, Jinping-I is the tallest arch dam ever built. Guinness World Records listed it as the world's highest dam, noting that it stands a few meters taller than the Eiffel Tower. Construction began in 2005, and the dam held the overall title from 2013, when it overtook Nurek (#4), until Shuangjiangkou came online in 2026. Its thin, double-curved concrete wall holds back a reservoir of about 7.8 billion cubic meters and feeds six 600-megawatt turbines, 3,600 megawatts in all.[2]
#3
Lianghekou Dam — 303 m
Lianghekou sits where the Xianshui and Qingda rivers meet the Yalong in Yajiang County, about 3,000 meters above sea level, which makes it China's highest-altitude giant hydropower station. Its gravel-core rockfill dam was certified by Guinness World Records on November 21, 2024 as the world's highest rockfill dam, at 303 meters. Wikipedia still lists it at 295 meters, which would put it fourth. Behind it sits a reservoir of about 10.8 billion cubic meters, and six 500-megawatt units give it 3,000 megawatts. The power station was fully commissioned in March 2022, and in 2026 the project won FIDIC's megaproject award.[3]
#4
Nurek Dam — 300 m
Built on the Vakhsh River while Tajikistan was still part of the Soviet Union, Nurek was the tallest dam in the world from its completion in 1980 until Jinping-I (#2) passed it in 2013. Its first generator started in 1972 and its last in 1979. It is an earthfill dam with a central core that keeps water from seeping through, and Guinness lists it as the tallest embankment dam at 300 meters (some references give 304). The plant's nine units add up to more than 3,000 megawatts. The World Bank says it covers about 70% of Tajikistan's yearly electricity demand, and it is now being rehabilitated for the first time since it opened.[4]
#5
Xiaowan Dam — 292 m
When it opened in 2010, this double-curvature arch dam on the Lancang River (the upper Mekong) in Yunnan was the tallest arch dam in the world, taking the title from Georgia's Enguri Dam (#10). It held that record until Jinping-I (#2) was finished. Its 902-meter crest sits at 1,245 meters above sea level, and the dam contains about 8.7 million cubic meters of concrete. The power station has a capacity of 4,200 megawatts. The dam also had a second life in video games: Battlefield 4's "Lancang Dam" map is set there.[5]
#6
Baihetan Dam — 289 m
Baihetan is the world's second-largest hydropower station after the Three Gorges Dam. Its 289-meter double-curvature arch dam spans the Jinsha River, the upper Yangtze, on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan. The dam is 72 meters thick at its base and only 13 meters at its crest. It drives sixteen 1-gigawatt turbines, the most powerful hydropower units in the world, for 16 gigawatts in all. The first units started in June 2021, and the whole station was running by December 20, 2022.[6]
#7
Xiluodu Dam — 285.5 m
Another giant on the Jinsha River, downstream from Baihetan (#6), Xiluodu is a 285.5-meter double-curvature arch dam with a crest about 700 meters long. Its 18 turbines total 13,860 megawatts, which makes it the fourth most powerful hydropower station in the world, after Three Gorges, Baihetan and Brazil's Itaipu. Behind the dam sits a reservoir of about 12.7 billion cubic meters, and around 4.65 billion cubic meters of it is kept free to catch floods. The dam opened in 2013 and the plant was fully running by June 2014.[7]
#8
Grande Dixence Dam — 285 m
At the head of the Val d'Hérémence in Switzerland's Valais canton, Grande Dixence is the tallest gravity dam in the world. Unlike the arch dams on this list, it holds back the water of the Lac des Dix purely by its own weight. Workers poured about 6 million cubic meters of concrete between 1951 and 1961, and the last bucket was set down on September 22, 1961. It was the tallest dam in the world until Nurek (#4) overtook it. More than 60 years on, it is still the oldest dam in the top 10.[8]
#9
Yusufeli Dam — 275 m
Turkey's tallest dam is a double-curvature concrete arch on the Çoruh River in Artvin province, in northeastern Turkey. Turkey's State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), which built it, gives its height as 275 meters from the foundation, or 220 meters above the riverbed. Some references, including Wikipedia, use 270 meters. The reservoir started filling on November 22, 2022, and the plant has 558 megawatts of turbines that produce about 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours a year. Yusufeli took the title of Turkey's tallest dam from its neighbor downstream, Deriner (#17).[9]
#10
Enguri Dam — 271.5 m
This concrete arch dam on the Enguri River in western Georgia was the tallest arch dam in the world until Xiaowan (#5) opened in 2010. Construction began in 1961, the plant started working in 1978 and the dam was finished in 1987. Part of the hydroelectric station lies in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, across the river. The plant, rated at about 1,300 megawatts, supplies between a third and half of Georgia's electricity, depending on the source. After years of neglect, it has been repaired in several rounds since 1998, with loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.[10]
