Ingeniero Ballester Dam

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File:DiqueballesterPANO.jpg

The Ingeniero Ballester Dam is a dam on the Neuquén River,{{Cite book |last=Zumerchik |first=John |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Seas_and_Waterways_of_the_World/8kTPEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ingeniero%20Ballester%20Dam&pg=PA244&printsec=frontcover |title=Seas and Waterways of the World: An Encyclopedia of History, Uses, and Issues [2 volumes] |last2=Danver |first2=Steven L. |date=2009-11-12 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-85109-716-6 |pages=244 |language=en}} in the Argentine Patagonia. The top of the dam doubles as a road bridge.

The dam is located near the town of Barda del Medio, province of Río Negro, downstream from the El Chañar Dam (the last part of the Cerros Colorados Complex), and {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} from north-northeast from the city of Neuquén.

Work began on the bridge on 1 January 1910.{{Cite web |title=Un día como hoy...comenzaban a construir el Dique Ballester |url=https://www.noticiasnqn.com.ar/noticias/2022/01/01/252761-un-dia-como-hoycomenzaban-a-construir-el-dique-ballester |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=NoticiasNQN |language=es-AR}} Completed in 1918,{{Cite web |date=2025-03-17 |title=A 115 años del Dique Ballester, una obra clave sobre el río Neuquén |url=https://www.lmneuquen.com/neuquen/a-115-anos-del-dique-ballester-una-obra-clave-el-rio-neuquen-n1180141 |access-date=2025-07-01 |website=Lmneuquen.com |language=es-AR}} the dam is used to re-route part of the flow of the Neuquén River to a long irrigation canal which flows east and then southeast passing by the cities of Barda del Medio, Cinco Saltos, Cipolletti, Allen, General Roca, Ingeniero Luis A. Huergo, and Villa Regina, and then emptying into the flood plain of the Río Negro. A second derivation dam, downstream on the canal, sends water to feed the reservoir of the Pellegrini Lake.

The Ballester Bridge over the dam is {{convert|400|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} wide. National Route 151 crosses over it from Río Negro to the province of Neuquén.