Furnas Dam
The Furnas Dam is a hydroelectric dam in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. A small settlement was built near the dam with the same name, to house the workers during the dam construction. The main purpose of the dam and reservoir are the production of electricity and the regulation of the flow of the Grande River.Construction on the dam began in 1957 and was the first large dam in Brazil. It was built by Wimpey Construction and was completed in 1963. It is built on the canyon of the Grande River, before joining the Sapucaí River downstream. The dam is tall, long, and wide at its crest.
The large reservoir, with a surface area of, almost half of the Brazilian coastline, started to form in 1963, bordering thirty-four municipalities. The volume of water is seven times that of Guanabara Bay, at. Normal water level averages at.
