Carraízo Dam

Carraízo Dam
Carraízo Dam in 2007
Location of Carraízo Dam in Puerto Rico
Official name	Carraízo Dam
Location	Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
Coordinates	18°19′40″N 66°00′57″W / 18.32778°N 66.01583°W / 18.32778; -66.01583Coordinates: 18°19′40″N 66°00′57″W / 18.32778°N 66.01583°W / 18.32778; -66.01583
Purpose	Water storage, recreation
Status	Operational
Opening date	1953
Construction cost	$60 million
Owner(s)	Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Concrete gravity
Impounds	Río Grande de Loíza
Height	44 m (144 ft)
Length	210 m (690 ft)
Width (crest)	45 ft (14 m)
Width (base)	30 m (98 ft)
Dam volume	26,800,000 m3 (35,100,000 cu yd)
Reservoir
Creates	Loíza Lake
Website Carraízo

Carraízo Dam is a concrete gravity dam located in the municipality of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico within the flow of the Río Grande de Loíza. Its construction was completed in 1953. Carraízo Dam impounds Loíza Lake which serves as Puerto Rico's main water reservoir.

At the end of the 1940s, the Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewers Authority proposed the construction of a dam at the Río Grande de Loíza in the Barrio Carraízo of Trujillo Alto with the intention of providing both water and electricity to the San Juan Metropolitan Area.

Construction of the dam began in 1950 and finished in 1954. As part of the construction, the dam included three hydroelectric turbines with a total capacity of 3 Megawatts for the provision of electricity. However, during the 1960s and 1970s, the turbines were shut down because their operation and maintenance wasn't considered cost-effective versus the cost of buying energy at the time.

Carraízo dam is a concrete gravity dam. It features eight floodgates along its 210-meter body. The floodgates open at a height of 1 to 10 meters, but they are usually opened at 4 meters. The reservoir created by the Carraízo Dam is the Loíza Lake. Carraízo's water storage capacity is of 4,650,000 gallons, and 41.15 meters is its peak level.