Wikipedia:WikiProject Dams

Requirements or Purpose

In this section describe why this type of dam is built, what type of site it requires, what water depth, other causes to warrant its construction. For example, for a saddle dam:"If the projected water level in the reservoir is too high for just one dam to hold back, other small dams, called saddle dams, are needed to fill gaps around the reservoir area to prevent water from spilling through."

Design

Describe the structure and physics, if possible, of this design in detail, best with diagrams. As an example, for a gravity dam: "A gravity dam can be either concrete or earthfill, and holds its position usually only by means of gravity, hence its name. Gravity dams can be combined with the arch design to form an arch-gravity dam, which increases strength."

Construction

Describe the specialized construction process used to build this type of dam.

History

Describe who invented this type of dam, when, why it was invented, how the design improved over time (if it did) and who contributed to its improvements.

Examples

List some famous (or very good) examples of dams utilizing this type of design.

References

Include a

{{reflist}}

to list inline citations.

Also, include a list of related (and reliable) external links that are about the subject. If there is a large amount of inline citations and external links, you may want to consider placing three subcategories called Notes (for the inline citations), Works cited and External links.

If there are books that pertain to the article's subject, there should also be a Further reading section that lists some (or all, if there are not much) of these books.

Lead section

Place the name and geographical location of the dam (and if it is not in an English-speaking country, its name in that country's language(s) in parentheses after the dam's English name). Also include a short description of the dam's dimensions, purpose, and a short history, as well as a summary of planned/future changes to the dam.

History

Describes the history of the dam (people involved, planning, construction, post-construction impacts, etc.) and its surrounding area. For dams with a lot of controversy, the Controversy section should be placed under this section, or be given a whole new article altogether. Also put a Future changes section here, if that is applicable.

Geography/Hydrography
A short geography section is recommended, for describing the river, the climate of the area, geology, elevation, nearby cities and towns, etcetera. There should be a main article or two for this section. For example:

{{main|article}}

at the top of the section. (Replace "article" with the intended main article.)

Structure and function

The dimensions, material and type of the dam, number of spillways, release capacity, power generating capacity (if applicable), reservoir volume and dimensions, etc. Like a fact list, except organized in one or more well-structured paragraphs. One sub-category under this (for hydroelectric dams only) would be Electricity generation and distribution, while if one of the dam's functions is water supply, a subcategory would be Water distribution. If the dam would fall into both categories, then include both. Sometimes, these also have their own articles, so in this case, there should be a

{{main|article}}

on the top as well. (Replace "article" with the intended main article.)

A sub-section, Architectural style, (if that information is known) whould be included, and describes the dam's architectural style, as well as its architect (if any).

Economy

Describe the dam's contribution to economy, namely transport. Separate sections (Navigation, for example, or Road transport) should be put under this section, if there is enough content to warrant their placement.

Associated projects

Sometimes, two or more dams work in tandem for one or more purposes (Example: the Gezhouba Dam, in China, allows water transport up to the Three Gorges Dam; while the Three Gorges Dam stores water to release to the Gezhouba Dam in the dry season so it can generate more hydroelectricity.) Such dams are usually forebays (upstream) or afterbays (downstream).^[1] Describe the contributions of each dam to the other's function in this section.

See also

Under this section, usually the assisting dam projects, as well as similar dams, the river and surrounding geography, and if the dam is of a particularly high status on a list, include that list. Also, (if applicable) if a major road crosses the dam, include that. Any other articles derived from the article (ex: Environmental issues with the Three Gorges Dam is derived from Three Gorges Dam) should be included as well. The builders/designers of the dam, again, should be included.

References

Include a

{{reflist}}

to list inline citations.

Also, include a list of related (and reliable) external links that are about the subject. If there is a large amount of inline citations and external links, you may want to consider placing three subcategories called Notes (for the inline citations), Works cited and External links.

If there are books that pertain to the article's subject, there should also be a Further reading section that lists some (or all, if there are not much) of these books.

Usually, the categories also go under this section. DO NOT PLACE THE GRANDPARENT CATEGORY! (The largest category, such as "Dams" or "Buildings" is referred to as a grandparent category.)