Investigations on the condition of irrigation dams in Albania

摘要

Studies have recently been undertaken to assess the need for remedial work at irrigation dams in Albania, some of which have been in service for some 70 years. This work is the first stage in a project to upgrade the country's irrigation schemes, with World Bank assistance. Albania is a small country, with an area of 28 750 km~2, on the east side of the Adriatic Sea. It is bordered by Montenegro and Kosovo to the north, Macedonia to the northeast and Greece to the south. In the April 2001 census, the population was recorded as 3 087 000. There are seven large dams for hydropower and 629 smaller dams for irrigation as well as a small number of dams for water supply, flood control and tailings retention. This represents about one dam for every 4700 people, which places Albania high on the world list for the number of dams per head of the population. These statistics owe much to the enthusiasm for dam building of the former communist regime, which held power from the end of the Second World War until the country embraced democracy in 1991.