Vajont Dam

Vaiont Dam is a dam completed in 1961 under Mount Toc , 100km north of Venice, Italy. It was one of the biggest dams in the world measuring 262 metres (860 ft) high, 27 meters (89 ft) thick at the base and 3.4 meters (11 ft) at the top.

On the October 9, 1963, heavy rains triggered an enormous landslide of about 260 million cubic metres of rock which fell into the reservoir created by the dam at a speed of up to 110 km per hour (68 mph). The resulting displacement of water caused 50 million cubic metres of water to overtop the dam in a wave 250 metres high. Despite this, the structure of the dam was largely undamaged – the top metre or so of masonry was washed away, but the basic structure remained standing. However, the tsunami (also megatsunami) caused by the landslide totally destroyed the village of Longarone and killed 1909 people. The small villages of Pirago , Rivalta , Villanova , Faè were also swept away. Over 3000 people perished in total.

Damage was also caused by the air displacement caused from the immense "splash" in surrounding villages.

The dam remains standing to this day but the reservoir it served is now unusable due to the amount of rubble and mud which was swept into it.

Related Article

• List of reservoirs and dams

External Links

• Vajont landslide analysis and timeline