ABSTRACT
The construction of dams ranks with the earliest and most fundamental of civil engineering activities. All great civilizations have been identified with the construction of storage reservoirs appropriate to their needs, in the earliest instances to satisfy irrigation demands arising through the development and expansion of organized agriculture. Operating within constraints imposed by local circumstance, notably climate and terrain, the economic power of successive civilizations was related to proficiency in water engineering. Prosperity, health and material progress became increasingly linked to the ability to store and direct water.
