Taşköprü | |
---|---|
Country | Turkey |
Location | Beyşehir, Konya Province |
Coordinates | 37°40′50.5″N 31°43′22″E / 37.680694°N 31.72278°E |
Purpose | Flood control, irrigation |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1908 |
Opening date | 1914 |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Arch dam |
Impounds | Beyşehir-Soğla-Apa Canal |
Length | 42 m (138 ft) |
Width (crest) | 6.35 m (20.8 ft) |
Taşköprü, translated to Stone bridge, is a combined regulator dam and bridge located in Beyşehir district of Konya Province, central Turkey. [1]
It was constructed as a flood barrier as part of the irrigational Konya Plain Project on the ground of a ruined 8–10 arched bridge between 1908 and 1914. [2] [3] Its completion was delayed due to repeated flooding at the Lake Beyşehir. The dam was commissioned by Albanian Ottoman Grand Vizier Mehmed Ferid Pasha of Vlorë (in office 1903–1908), ( Turkish: Avlonyalı Ferid Paşa). [1] Regulated water draining off the lake contributed to the rise of the formerly droughty and quaggy Konya Plain into a "granary". [1] [2]
Taşköprü is situated over the Beyşehir-Soğla-Apa Canal close to the Lake Beyşehir. The 42 m (138 ft)-long and 6.35 m (20.8 ft)-wide ashlar-masonry combined dam-bridge structure has two level of 15 arches and floodgates. [3] The bridge was initially open to motorized traffic. After the building of a new road bridge west of it, Taşköprü is used today as a pedestrian bridge only. [2]
With effect on July 12, 1980, the historic monumental structure was put under protection by the Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection Board. [1] [3]