Péligre Dam, Gravity dam in Centre, Haiti

Péligre Dam is a 72 m (236 ft) concrete gravity dam on the Artibonite River, the tallest in Haiti, impounding Lake Péligre. Its power plant houses three Francis turbine-generators with a combined installed capacity of 51 MW. The dam sits 52 km from Port-au-Prince and 9 km from Mirebalais.

The dam was designed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and funded by the Export-Import Bank of the United States, with construction overseen by engineer André A. Loiselle. Completed in 1956 by the Corps and Brown & Root, it created Lake Péligre. The associated power plant went online in 1971, 15 years later, and is operated by Électricité d'Haïti.

The dam represented progress for the nation, yet its creation uprooted farming families and reshaped how communities along the river valley lived and worked. Local people still feel the effects of these changes in their daily lives and their connection to the land.

The structure is visible from nearby roads, but access to the dam itself is restricted for safety reasons. Visitors can view the facility from designated areas and explore the landscape around the reservoir from afar.

Over decades, sediment from the river has accumulated in the reservoir, significantly reducing how much water it can hold today. This gradual silting demonstrates how even large engineering projects eventually lose capacity as nature continuously reshapes the landscape.