Guaíra Falls
| Guairá Falls | |
|---|---|
 Guairá Falls
Guaíra Falls within South America
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| Location | Border between Paraguay and Brazil |
| Coordinates | 24°04′23″S 54°17′01″W / 24.07306°S 54.28361°WCoordinates: 24°04′23″S 54°17′01″W / 24.07306°S 54.28361°W |
| Type | block |
| Total height | 114 m (375 ft) |
| Number of drops | 19 total, 7 primary |
| Watercourse | Paraná River |
| Average flow rate |
13,000 m3/s (470,000 cu ft/s) |
Guairá Falls (Spanish: Saltos del Guairá, Portuguese: Salto das Sete Quedas do Guaíra) were a series of immense waterfalls on the Paraná River along the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The falls ceased to exist in 1982 when they were inundated by the impoundment of the Itaipu Dam reservoir. While published figures vary, ranging from 13,000 m3 (470,000 cu ft) per second to 50,000 m3 (1,750,000 cu ft) per second, Guaíra's flow rate was among the greatest of any then-existing falls on Earth.
The falls comprised 18 cataracts clustered in seven groups—hence their Portuguese name, Sete Quedas (Seven Falls)—near the Brazilian municipality of Guaíra, Paraná and Salto de Guairá, the easternmost city in Paraguay. The falls were located at a point where the Paraná River was forced through a narrow gorge. At the head of the falls, the river narrowed sharply from a width of about 380 m (1,250 ft) to 60 m (200 ft). The total height of the falls was approximately 114 m (375 ft), while the largest individual cataract was 40 m (130 ft) high. The roar of the plunging water could be heard from 30 km (20 mi) away.
A tourist attraction and a favorite of locals, the falls were completely submerged under the artificial lake created by the Itaipu Dam, linchpin of the world's largest hydroelectric project to date upon its completion in 1982. The building of the dam, authorized by a 1973 bilateral agreement between the Brazilian and Paraguayan regimes of the time, marked a new era of cooperation between the countries, both of which had claimed ownership of Guaíra Falls as its own.
As construction of the Itaipu Dam progressed, thousands of visitors flocked to the area to see the falls before they disappeared forever. Disaster struck on January 17, 1982, when a suspended footbridge affording access to a particularly spectacular view of the falls collapsed, killing dozens of tourists.
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Wikipedia