The world's most spectacular dams

On this day (December 14) in 1994, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam began on the Yangtze River in China. Almost 14 years and ¥180 billion (US$26 billion) later, it was finished. Undoubtedly a great feat of engineering, it is also mired in controversy as it flooded archaeological and cultural sites and displaced some 1.3 million people.

Here are 13 more spectacular dams around the world...

• Yangtze river cruise: two sides of the Three Gorges

Picture: GETTY