It has a surface area of 16 km2, an average depth of 16 m, and a maximum volume of 180 million m³.

It was designed in 1884 by the engineering firm of Cassaffousth, Bialet Massé and Dumesnil, finished in 1886, and inaugurated officially in 1890.

Two years later the dam was suffering from a complete lack of maintenance, however, and a political scandal erupted.

The original dam was finally replaced by a newer one, located 150 m away, by an initiative of Governor Amadeo Sabattini, and completed in 1944.

When the engineers tried to demolish the original dam, the dynamite only blew the metal railing.