The Dam Of The Sayano-Shushenskaya GES

French engineer Benoît Fourneyron developed the first successful water turbine in 1832. The era of large dams was initiated after Hoover Dam was completed on the Colorado River near Las Vegas in 1936. By 1997, there were an estimated 800,000 dams worldwide, some 40,000 of them over 15 m (49 ft) high.
Types of dams
Dams can be formed by human agency, natural causes, or even by the intervention of wildlife such as beavers. Man-made dams are typically classified according to their size (height), intended purpose or structure.