Aswan Low Dam was summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile, a task requiring an early attempt at an Aswan Dam. After his field work convinced him of the impracticality of this scheme, and fearing the Caliph's anger, he feigned madness. He was kept under house arrest from 1011 until al-Hakim's death in 1021, during which time he wrote his influential "Book of Optics". Following their 1882 invasion and occupation of Egypt, the British began construction of the first dam across the Nile in 1898. Construction lasted until 1902, and it was opened
Hanabanilla Dam Hanabanilla Dam The Hanabanilla Dam is an embankment dam on the Hanabanilla River near the village of El Salto del Hanabanilla in Villa Clara Province, Cuba. The purpose of the dam is to provide water for irrigation and municipal uses and to generate hydroelectric power. The dam withholds a reservoir of and the power station, located near its base, has an installed capacity of 43 MW. It is the largest hydroelectric power station in the country. Near the southern end of the reservoir is Jibacoa Dam, an auxiliary dam, which closes off one valley to create the existing large reservoir.