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Gravity dam – is an engineering structure that by its own weight resists the forces imposed with a desired factor of safely. Gravity dams are designed so that every dam section is stable, independent of any other dam sections.

The most common classification of gravity dams based upon the materials comprising the structure is:
 * Concrete gravity dams include
 * mass concrete dams, made of conventional concrete: Grand Coulee Dam or roller-compacted concrete: Upper Stillwater Dam,
 * hollow gravity dams, made of reinforced concrete:Braddock Dam,
 * concrete buttress dams, made of reinforced concrete: Stony Gorge Dam
 * Masonry dams (Pathfinder Dam, Cheesman Dam)
 * Embankment dams include
 * earthfill dams Blue Mesa Dam,
 * rockfill dams.
 * Composite dams are a combination of concrete and embankment dams. Construction materials of composite dams are the same used for concrete and embankment dams. Folsom Dam is an examples of the composite dam.

Gravity dams can be classified by plan as straight or curved gravity dams. Majority of gravity dams are straight (Grand Coulee Dam although several masonry and concrete gravity dams have the dam axis curved (Shasta Dam) to add stability though arch action.

Gravity dams classified with respect to their structural height are:
 * Low dams up to 100 feet
 * Medium high dams between 100- 300 feet
 * High dams over 300 feet