Abha Dam is a concrete dam located west of Abha City, Aseer Province Principality's headquarters, southwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was constructed during the reign of King Faisal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and inaugurated in 1974. The dam's construction costs amounted to about SAR35 million. It measures 350 m in length and thirty m in height. The dam's reservoir can hold up to 2,130,000 m of water.
The history of Abha Dam construction
The first construction of Abha Dam was in the 1940s. The idea of its construction was conceived when Turki al-Sudairi was the Governor of Aseer Province. The feasibility of the dam's construction was discussed when a foreign geologist, Tetcher, visited Abha. Al-Sudairi then consulted him about building the dam in its current location. Tetcher assessed that the area is well-suited for constructing a dam to store water flowing down from the mountains overlooking Wadi Abha.
In 1944, Prince Turki al-Sudairi urged administrative institutions in the city, such as the police, civil defense, financial departments, and the principality staff, to collaborate in gathering stones from the surrounding mountains and valleys. He also brought in local builders to oversee the construction process. The construction work continued for three months with the cooperation of the people of Abha and the surrounding areas. During this period, the dam wall was raised by about 1.5 m across the width of the valley, with a thickness of about 1.5 m and exceeding two m in some sections of the dam. However, the dam did not serve its purpose for long as heavy rains caused a breach in the front wall, and subsequent rainfall expanded the breach and washed away the dam's stones into the valley.
Reconstruction of Abha Dam
King Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud approved the assignment of the reconstruction of Abha Dam to the Ministry of Agriculture (currently the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture) in response to the wishes of the people of Abha, who desired to rebuild it based on scientific and technical engineering foundations. Several companies were contracted then for planning and execution, but the project was halted for further studies. Eventually, the dam was constructed during the reign of King Faisal Bin Abdulaziz and was inaugurated in 1974.
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