Editing Itaipu Dam (section)

=== Construction starts ===
In 1970, the [[consortium]] formed by the companies ELC Electroconsult S.p.A. (from Italy) and [[IECO]] (from the United States)<ref>International Engineering Company, Inc. (IECO) was a subsidiary of [[Morrison-Knudsen]]. See {{cite web |title=Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc. |publisher=Baker Library, Harvard Business School |url=http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=morrison_knudsen_company_inc |access-date=2014-09-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319173455/http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/company.html?company=morrison_knudsen_company_inc |archive-date=2015-03-19 |url-status=live }}</ref>  won the international competition for the realization of the viability studies and for the elaboration of the construction project. Design studies began in February 1971. On April 26, 1973, Brazil and Paraguay signed the Itaipu Treaty, the legal instrument for the hydroelectric exploitation of the Paraná River by the two countries. On May 17, 1974, the Itaipu Binacional entity was created to administer the plant's construction. The construction began in January of the following year. Brazil's (and Latin America's) first electric car was introduced in late 1974; it received the name [[Gurgel Itaipu|''Itaipu'']] in honor of the project.<ref name="QRweb">{{cite web | url = http://quatrorodas.abril.com.br/classicos/brasileiros/conteudo_229224.shtml | title = Clássicos: Grandes Brasileiros: Gurgel Itaipu | trans-title = Classics: Brazilian Greats: Gurgel Itaipu | language = pt | last = Pereira | first = Fabiano | publisher = Quatro Rodas | date = April 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070830163205/http://quatrorodas.abril.com.br/classicos/brasileiros/conteudo_229224.shtml | archive-date = 2007-08-30 }}</ref>