Gopeng dam was constructed in 1961 as a silt retention dam. It is situated some 600m from Gopeng town in the State of Perak on the upstream stretch of Sungai Gopeng which transverse approximately North- East of the town and cuts the main North-South road further downstream. Sungai Gopeng is a tributary of Sungai Kinta which flows into Sungai Perak.

The dam has a catchment area of about 10.6sq.km and a maximum silt retention capacity of 38,000cu.m. It was designed primarily to retain eroded material from ex-tin mining areas in the catchment to prevent silting of Sungai Gopeng downstream which would cause adverse flooding of Gopeng town and its surrounding villages.

Gopeng dam comprises a hydraulic fill embankment, a shaft spillway and an auxiliary spillway.