Diama Dam

The Diama Dam, sometimes called the Maka–Diama Dam (French: Barrage de Maka-Diama) is a gravity dam on the Senegal River. It goes across the border of Senegal and Mauritania. It is next to the town of Diama, Senegal. It is about 22 km (14 mi) north of Saint-Louis, Senegal. The dam was built to stop saltwater intrusion upstream, supply water for the irrigation of about 45,000 ha (110,000 acres) of crops, and create a road crossing for the road between St. Louis and Nouakchott in Mauritania. Additionally, a ship lock built in the dam allows navigation upstream. Plans for the dam were first made in 1970 when the riparian states in the Senegal River Basin Development Authority agreed to develop the Senegal River. The Diama Dam was to be built along with the Manantali Dam which was to be in Mali. Construction on the Diama Dam began on 15 September 1981 and was completed on 12 August 1986. The Manantali Dam was completed in 1988. The Diama project was funded by a US$149.5 million loan from the African Development Bank. The main section of the dam with the ship lock and spillway is 170 m (560 ft) long while a 440 m (1,440 ft) long embankment dam section goes north to the edge of the river. A dike makes the dam go even further north. The dam is 18 m (59 ft) tall and its spillway has a maximum discharge of 6,500 m3/s (230,000 cu ft/s). The small town of Diama is known as a border crossing to and from Mauritania. This is because the dam is the only land bridge between the two countries. References