The following table lists the largest man-made dams by volume of fill/structure. A dam is generally defined as a barrier that impounds water or underground flows, so tailings dams are relegated to a separate list. Data on volume of structure is not as readily available or reliable as data on dam height and reservoir volume.
Type: TE - Earth; ER - Rock-fill; PG - Concrete gravity; CFRD - Concrete face rockfill
Rank Name Country Yearcompleted Structurevolume Structureheight(m) Reservoirvolume Installedcapacity Type 1 Tarbela Dam 1976 153 143 13.7 4,888 TE/ER 2 Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam 2023 130 (est.) 155 74 5,150 (full) CFRD 3 Fort Peck Dam 1940 96 76.4 23 185 TE 4 Atatürk Dam 1990 84.5 166 48.7 2,400 TE/ER 5 Houtribdijk 1968 78 13 2700 km × 3 m 0 TE/ER 6 Oahe Dam 1963 70.3 75 29 786 TE/ER 7 Mangla Dam 1967 65.4 147 9.12 1,000 TE/ER 8 Gardiner Dam 1967 65.4 64 9.4 186 TE 9 Oroville Dam 1968 59.6 230 4.36 819 TE/ER 10 San Luis Dam (BF Sisk Dam) 1967 59.6 93 2.52 424 TE 11 Nurek Dam 1980 54 300 10.5 3,200 TE 12 Samara Dam 1955 54 52 57.3 2,315 TE/ER 13 Garrison Dam 1954 50.8 64 29 583.3 TE 14 Cochiti Dam 1975 50.2 76.5 0.73 NA TE 15 Aswan Dam 1970 44.3 111 169 2,100 TE/ER 16 W. A. C. Bennett Dam 1968 43.7 186 7.4 2,876 TE 17 San Roque Dam 2003 40 200 0.835 345 CFRD 18 Fort Randall Dam 1953 38.2 50.3 6.7 320 TE/ER 19 Afsluitdijk 1932 36.5 13 5.5 0 TE/ER 20 Guri Dam 1978 29.8 162 135 10,235 PG/ER 21 Three Gorges Dam 2008 27.4 181 39.3 22,500 PG 22 Belo Monte Dam 2016 25.4 90 1.9 11,233 PG/ER 23 Itaipu Dam 1984 12.8 196 29 14,000 PG 24 Grand Coulee Dam 1942 9.2 168 12 6,809 PG
List of largest tailings dams Type: TE - Earth; ER - Rock-fill; PG - Concrete gravity; CFRD - Concrete face rockfill.
Rank Name Country Year completed Structure volume Structure height Reservoir volume Installed capacity Type 1 Syncrude Tailings DamD. Nicol (1994) "The Syncrude Mildred Lake Tailings Dyke Redesign", 18th Int. Congr. Large Dams. 1995 540Estimate based on height, dimensions from Google Earth and, where available, cross section. Accuracy ±15%/720 88 0.35 NA TE 2 Syncrude South West Sand Storage 2010 119 40–50 0.25 NA TE 3 ASARCO Mission Mine Tailings Dam 1972 40.1 30Estimate based on structure volume and dimensions from Google Earth 0Zero reservoir size because full of tailings NA ER
See also List of reservoirs by volume List of tallest dams List of conventional hydroelectric power stations List of largest hydroelectric power stations
References
pt:Anexo:Lista de barragens#Em Volume da Albufeira