Denison Dam

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Denison Dam
DenisonDam 01-2006.jpg
USA Oklahoma relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Denison Dam in Oklahoma
CountryUnited States
Location Bryan County, Oklahoma / Grayson County, Texas, US
Coordinates 33°49′5″N96°34′20″W / 33.81806°N 96.57222°W / 33.81806; -96.57222
StatusOperational
Owner(s) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Earth-fill embankment
Impounds Red River of the South
Height165 ft (50 m)
Length15,200 ft (4,633 m) (not including levees)
Reservoir
Creates Lake Texoma
Total capacity2,525,568 acre-feet (3.115242×109 m3)
Surface area89,000 acres (36,000 ha)
Power Station
Commission date2021
Turbines 2 x 49.5 MW Francis-type [1] [2]
Installed capacity 99 MW

Denison Dam, also known as Lake Texoma Dam, is a dam located on the Red River between Texas and Oklahoma that impounds Lake Texoma. The purpose of the dam is flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power production, river regulation, navigation and recreation. [3] It was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1993. [4]

Contents

History

Dam under construction, 1941 Oklahoma - Purcell through Witchita National Forest - NARA - 68147238 (cropped).jpg
Dam under construction, 1941

Completed in 1943 primarily as a flood control project, it was at the time the "largest rolled-earth fill dam in the world". [5] Only five times has the lake reached the dam's spillway at a height of 640 feet (200 m) above sea level: 1957, 1990, 2007, and twice in 2015. It takes its name from Denison, Texas, just downriver from the damface.

Denison Dam contains a total of 18.8 million cubic yards (14,000,000 m³) of rolled-earth fill. It produces roughly 250,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year, while Lake Texoma provides nearly 125,000 acre-feet (154,000,000 m3) of water storage for local communities under five permanent contracts.

In addition to two federally managed wildlife-refuge areas, Denison Dam has made possible 47 recreational areas managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, two state parks -- one in Oklahoma and one in Texas -- as well as 80,000 acres (32,000 ha) of open public land used for hunting.

[...] General Lucius D. Clay was the principal manager of the project. [5]

Oklahoma State Highway 91 and, to a lesser extent, Texas State Highway 91 cross over the dam.

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References

  1. ERCOT, Seasonal Assesemet, page 9 of 22. 49.5 MW per turbine in summer, 50.1 MW maximum | replaced two 1944 turbines that were each rated at 40 MW to 44 MW
  2. Generator and turbines upgraded in year 2021. "Historic work underway at Denison Dam Powerhouse" | Denison, Texas (KXII | Jan. 19, 2021)
  3. "Lake Texoma". U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  4. "Ceremonies mark 50th birthday of Denison Dam". The Paris News . Paris, Texas. October 21, 1993. p. 9.
  5. 1 2 "Denison Dam". American Society of Civil Engineers. Retrieved January 26, 2022.