Victoria Dam

Victoria Dam

Victoria dam is an Arch dam built across Sri Lanka’s longest river, which is Mahaweli River six (6) km from Teldeniya. The main purpose to build this is for irrigation and hydroelectric power production.

This dam is the tallest dam in the island. This was declared open by President HE J R Jayawardane in 1985.

The dam measures 122 m (400 ft) tall. It creates the Victoria reservoir, which spreads a surface area of 22.7 Km2. Dam consist of eight (8) spillways, which opens automatically when water levels are high.

The dam's gates, which need power only to close, won an award for "Innovative Design in Civil Engineering" by the Institution of Civil Engineers.