Large construction projects were undertaken, including the Trans-Amazonian highway, the Itaipu Dam and Rio–Niterói bridge.
The Capital Latin American electric power has two hydroelectric plants, Acaray which was launched in 1968 and Itaipú, built between 1976 and 1982, is the world's largest dam, considered one of the wonders of the modern world.
Itaipu Dam, a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River, across the Brazil-Paraguay border
Its establishment coincides with the period of advancing agricultural frontier eastward, the construction of the Itaipu Dam and the extinction of the waterfalls in Saltos del Guairá
dam | Hoover Dam | Aswan Dam | Grand Coulee Dam | Kinzua Dam | Bonneville Dam | Grand Rapids Dam | embankment dam | Beaver Dam, Arizona | Merowe Dam | Beaver Dam, Wisconsin | Three Gorges Dam | Mangla Dam | Beaver Dam | Aswan Low Dam | Akosombo Dam | Shasta Dam | Itaipu Dam | Fort Peck Dam | Fontana Dam | Dam Square | Chickamauga Dam | Yacyretá Dam | Wilson Dam | Tiga Dam | Temenggor Dam | Tarbela Dam | Tai Dam | Tabqa Dam | Safe Harbor Dam |
About 88 percent of the electricity fed into the national grid is estimated to come from hydroelectric generation, with over 25% coming from a single hydropower plant, the massive 14 GW Itaipu dam facility, located between Brazil and Paraguay on the Paraná River.
The entire Misiones shores along the Paraná River is now confined by two dams, one of them Yaciretá, downstream of the river, and the other Itaipú, located in Brazil and Paraguay, upstream of the river and north of Puerto Iguazú.
During the 70’s, the country was in a period of economic growth, due to the construction of the hydroelectric Itaipu dam, on the Paraná River, on the border with Brazil, and also thanks to the exportation of soya and cotton.