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Dams represent some of the grandest examples of civil engineering on the planet. Indeed, these mighty blockades mesmerize in their sheer size and immense capacity. Designed to create hydroelectricity or simply to control water flow, dams stand as modern wonders of the world.

Browse this gallery and be in awe of some of the biggest and most groundbreaking dams around the world.

(Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)

▲Also known as the Verzasca Dam, this is the location of the famous opening sequence of the 1995 James Bond film 'GoldenEye,' when a stuntman jumped off it—a feat later voted as one of the best movie stunts of all time. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

▲One of the country's tallest structures, Almendra forms part of the hydroelectric system known as the Duero Drops, which is composed of five dams from Spain and three other dams in neighboring Portugal- (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Located on the Flathead River in Montana, scenic Kerr Dam was designed to generate hydroelectricity, but also serves recreational and irrigation purposes. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)

▲Named in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, the lake created behind the dam is the third largest reservoir in the country. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

▲This double curvature concrete arch dam is located in Tasmania, and gets its water from Lake Gordon. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

▲In the Khoekhoe language, Gariep means "river." It's the original name of the Orange River. Suitably, the dam's primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic, and industrial use.

▲At 234 m (770 ft), this is the tallest and largest dam in the United States.

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Part of the Oroville–Thermalito Complex group of reservoirs, structures, and facilities, the Thermalito Afterbay Dam has the longest crest in the California State Water Project system: its lip stretches 13,000 m (42,000 ft). (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

▲Completed in 1959, it's one of the tallest dams in the world. Vajont Dam made headlines around the globe in 1963 when a landslide caused millions of cubic meters of water to spill over the lip of the dam, leading to nearly 2,000 fatalities and widespread destruction. The dam is now disused. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

▲Completed in 1965, construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin, and led to the subsequent creation of Lake Volta—one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the world.

▲The largest earth-filled dam in the world, Tarbela was designed to store water from the Indus River for irrigation, flood control, and the generation of hydroelectric power.

▲The Karun is the country's only navigable river and suffers the highest seasonal flooding in the country. Built partly to provide seasonal flood control, the dam has one of the largest generator capacities in Iran. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

▲Grand Coulee creates the most hydroelectric power of any dam in the US, and is an impressive Spokane, Washington state industrial landmark.

▲Currently the world's second-highest concrete arch dam, this hydroelectric dam stands on the Enguri River. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)

▲Dating back to 1961, the facility's arched dam is inscribed in the list of Georgia's cultural heritage.

▲Spanning the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi River basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe is this double curvature concrete arch dam.

▲The dam forms Lake Kariba, the world's largest man-made lake and reservoir by volume, seen here pictured from space.

▲In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers recognized the massive Itaipu Dam as one of the seven modern Wonders of the World.

▲The hydroelectric facility is set on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. It currently produces more power than any other plant in the world. Pictured is the dam wall at night. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 2.0)

▲Located on the Yenisei River (the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean), the dam releases unfrozen water year-round.

▲A feature of the dam is its canal inclined plane, an electric rack railway that allows the passage of ships.

▲This picturesque multiple-arch buttress dam on the Manicouagan River is the largest dam of its type in the world. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

▲Located north of Baie-Comeau in the province of Quebec, the dam impounds the river, which in turn fills the Earth's fifth largest confirmed impact crater, the Manicouagan crater (pictured), the so-called "Eye of Quebec."

▲Completed in 1966, this arch-gravity dam near Page, Arizona is set on the upper Colorado River. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0)

▲The dam forms Lake Powell behind it, the second-largest man-made reservoir in the US. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

▲Spanning the mighty Yangtze River, the Three Gorges Dam facility is the world's largest power station. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY 2.0)

▲A monumental feat of civil engineering, construction on the dam began in 1994. It opened in 2003.

▲One of the most controversial construction projects of recent times, the dam flooded several archaeological and cultural sites, displaced over a million people, and caused considerable ecological damage.

▲Built between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression, this iconic Art Deco-detailed landmark is one of the most recognized dams in the world. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

▲Originally known as Boulder Dam, it was renamed for President Herbert Hoover in 1947. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Set on the Nevada/Arizona state border, the dam holds back the powerful Colorado River. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 3.0)