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. Near the beginning of 2022, mass amounts of rain caused a large rock to fall and kill 10 people. Construction. 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 , 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 .