Snow-capped Mountains, Elevated Reservoir Sunset, Bernina Pass, Switzerland
© Roberto Moiola/Sysaworld/Moment/Getty Images
An elevated reservoir
When it's well fed by the surrounding glaciers, Lago Bianco looks like most any other alpine lake, but in drier times, its divided past is revealed. Prior to the 20th century, this stretch of the Bernina Pass hosted a much smaller Lago Bianco alongside its sister lake, Lago della Scala. In 1910, engineers began damming the basin at both ends, soon merging the lakes into one large reservoir to power hydroelectric plants in the valleys below. That year proved formative for this elevated sector of Switzerland, also marking the completion of the Bernina Pass railway—the highest rail crossing in Europe.
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