The Karun-4 Dam is an arch dam on the Karun River located 180 km southwest of Shahr-e-Kord in the province of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran. The Karun has the highest discharge of all the Iranian rivers. Its construction is aimed at generating hydroelectric power supply of 2,107 million kWh annually and controlling floods in the upper Karun. The dam is a concrete double curvature arch-type and 230 m high from the foundation. The arch dam design is an ideal one for a dam built in a narrow, rocky gorge to hold back water in a reservoir. The dam is curved. Because of the arch shape, the force of the backed up water presses downward against the dam and has the effect of strengthening the dam foundation. The dam withholds a reservoir with a surface area of 29 km2 and capacity of 2.19 km3. The dam's first study was conducted in 1995 and river diversion began in 1997. Concrete pouring began in 2006 and the power plant began producing electricity in November 2010. On December 11, 2010, the second generator for the dam became operational and was connected to the grid. The dam will eventually have an installed capacity of 1,020 MW. The dam was inaugurated on 6 July 2011 by Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad.

Objectives

It was built to fulfill the followings: