Folsom Dam
| Folsom Dam | |
|---|---|
Folsom Dam release
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| Location | Folsom, California |
| Coordinates | 38°42′28″N 121°09′23″W / 38.707705°N 121.156526°WCoordinates: 38°42′28″N 121°09′23″W / 38.707705°N 121.156526°W |
| Construction began | 1948 |
| Opening date | 1956 |
| Construction cost | US$81.5 million |
| Operator(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | American River |
| Height | 340 ft (100 m) |
| Length | 1,400 ft (430 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Folsom Lake |
| Total capacity | 977,000 acre·ft (1,205,000 dam3) |
| Inactive capacity | 83,000 acre·ft (102,000 dam3) |
| Catchment area | 1,875 sq mi (4,860 km2) |
| Surface area | 11,930 acres (4,830 ha) |
| Power station | |
| Commission date | 1955 |
| Hydraulic head | 300 ft (91 m) (rated) |
| Turbines | 3x Francis |
| Installed capacity | 198.7 MW |
| Annual generation | 691,358,000 KWh |
Folsom Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the American River of Northern California in the United States, about 25 mi (40 km) northeast of Sacramento. The dam is 340 ft (100 m) high and 1,400 ft (430 m) long, flanked by earthen wing dams. It was completed in 1955, officially opening the following year.
Located at the juncture of the north and south forks of the American River, the dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and was transferred to the United States Bureau of Reclamation upon its completion. The dam and its reservoir, Folsom Lake, are part of the Central Valley Project, a multipurpose project that provides flood control, hydroelectricity, and irrigation and municipal water supply. In order to increase Sacramento's flood protection to 200 year flood protection (meaning that the area is protected from a flood that has a 0.5% chance of occurring in any given year) the US Army Corp of Engineers is constructing an auxiliary spillway. The spillway is scheduled to be completed by October 2017, and will enable Folsom dam to release water before it reaches the height of the gates already in place.
Another Central Valley Project dam, Nimbus Dam, is located further down river.
Folsom Dam is located just north of the city of Folsom and consists of a 340 ft (100 m) high, 1,400 ft (430 m) long hollow core concrete gravity dam containing 1,170,000 cu yd (890,000 m3) of material. The dam is flanked by two earthen wing dikes, and the reservoir is held in place by an additional nine saddle dams on the west and southeast sides. The wing dams total a length of 8,800 ft (2,700 m), and the saddle dams measure 16,530 ft (5,040 m) long combined. The dam and appurtenant dikes total a length of 26,730 ft (8,150 m), more than 5 mi (8.0 km). Floodwaters are released by a spillway located on the main channel dam, controlled by eight radial gates with a capacity of 567,000 cu ft/s (16,100 m3/s), as well as a set of outlet works with a capacity of 115,000 cu ft/s (3,300 m3/s).
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Wikipedia