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Arquitetura do ImpossívelImpossible Architecture
Topic · 04 structures

Dams, canals and locks

Moving a river, or making a ship climb a mountain. Hoover Dam (1931–1936) diverted the Colorado River through four tunnels bored inside the mountain and needed 937 km of chilled-water pipes to cool its own concrete. Itaipu (1975–1984) took the Paraná River out of its bed to raise, in the dry, a 196 m dam owned in equal parts by Brazil and Paraguay; the lake covered Sete Quedas in 14 days.

The Panama Canal (1904–1914) cut through a mountain range that kept sliding back into the cut, on an isthmus where yellow fever and malaria had already defeated the French, and it lifts ships 26 m to a lake made of rain. In Scotland, the Falkirk Wheel replaced eleven locks with a rotating boat lift, which raises boats 24 m using 1.5 kWh per half turn.

At Hoover, at Itaipu and in Panama, the death toll depends on who is counting. Each page shows the versions, and does not pick one.

Drawing board

Structures on this topic

  • Aerial view of the Itaipu Dam: the spillway on the left, the curving dam and the reservoir behind, with the Paraná River in the foreground 05 Premieres Nov 05, 2026

    Itaipu Dam

    Paraná River, between Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Hernandarias, Paraguay · 1975–1984

    How Brazil and Paraguay diverted the Paraná River, built Itaipu and drowned Sete Quedas in 14 days, and why the death toll is still only an estimate.

    BrazilRead the story →
  • Hoover Dam seen from above, with the curved concrete wall between the rocks of Black Canyon, the power plant at its foot and Lake Mead in the background 06 Premieres Nov 12, 2026

    Hoover Dam

    Black Canyon, Colorado River, on the Nevada–Arizona line, United States · 1931–1936

    How Hoover Dam moved the Colorado River out of its canyon and beat the heat of its own concrete, and why the death toll runs from 96 to 213.

    WorldRead the story →
  • Deep, dry valley cut between two rock slopes, with several railroad tracks along the bottom, a steam shovel on the right and cranes on the left 08 Premieres Nov 26, 2026

    Panama Canal

    Isthmus of Panama, between Colón and Panama City, Panama · 1904–1914

    How the Panama Canal beat a mountain that kept sliding back, the mosquito and the water, and why the death toll depends on who is doing the counting.

    WorldRead the story →
  • Large light-gray steel structure with two curved arms turning beside a concrete aqueduct carried on ring-shaped piers; a gondola with a boat is halfway up, with a sloping-roofed building on the right and people watching from a lawn 30 Premieres Apr 29, 2027

    Falkirk Wheel

    Tamfourhill, Falkirk, Scotland, United Kingdom · 2000–2002

    How Scotland replaced eleven locks with the Falkirk Wheel, a rotating boat lift, in 2002, why it uses so little power and what the April sabotage did.

    WorldRead the story →
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Other topics

The structures grouped by the problem they solved: bridges, skyscrapers, tunnels, stadiums, water.