Victoria Dam

Victoria Dam is the highest dam in Sri Lanka. And it holds the Victoria Reservoir which feeds the largest hydropower station in Sri Lanka (210 MW). It is a curved dam like most of the others (unlike Kotmale Dam). It is situated in on a border of Nuwara Eliya and Kandy districts. The reservoir, dam and the power station were constructed under the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme (1978 – 1985). Almost all the hydropower stations in Sri Lanka were constructed under the same programme and feed from the Mahaweli river. For more information about Victoria Dam please refer to Wikipedia.

The dam is 520m long, 122m high and the crest is 6m wide. Even though a road laid on top of the dam, it is not open for general traffic. The view from the Victoria Dam is quite scenic. The sight of the reservoir is an eyecatcher.

The powerhouse is situated more than 5km away from the dam. The water from the reservoir is carried by a tunnel to the powerhouse. The inlet of the tunnel can be seen on the bank, close to the dam.

Spilling of the dam is an amazing sight to see. But it happens extremly rarely.

How to Reach Victoria Dam…?

Victoria Dam can be reached via both Adhikarigama and Thennelanda sides. Here is the exact location of it.

But, unfortunately, you can’t go to the top of the Victoria Dam without special permission due to security reasons. But, you don’t have to worry much, since observation points are situated on both sides of access. The dam can be seen well and close enough from them. The below photograph is taken from the observation point of Adhikarigama side.

So that’s about Victoria Dam. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have anything to know further. I would be more than happy to help.