TEHRAN, July 6 (MNA) -- Iran celebrated self-sufficiency in dam construction by inaugurating the Karun-4 dam, the largest concrete dam in Iran, which has been completely designed and constructed by domestic engineers.

 Construction of the dam cost around 7.9 trillion rials (some $790 million). It has been built over the Karoun river in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari province, west of Iran.

 President Mahmoud Ahmaidnejad attended the inauguration ceremony.

 The Karun-4 dam has the highest discharge of Iran's rivers. The dam is a concrete double arch type and 230 meters high from the foundation.

 The dam withholds a reservoir with a surface area of 29 square kilometers and capacity of 2.19 cubic kilometers.

 The Karun-4 dam has now four generators; each has a capacity of 250 mega-watts. The dam will eventually have an installed capacity of 1,000 MW.

 HL/MG

MNA

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