Twin Branch Dam (Indiana)

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Twin Branch Dam
Official nameTwin Branch Dam
CountryUnited States
Location St. Joseph County, Indiana
Coordinates 41°39′57″N86°07′58″W / 41.665887°N 86.13272°W / 41.665887; -86.13272
PurposePower
StatusOperational
Opening date1903
Construction cost$2,000,000 [1]
Owner(s) Indiana & Michigan Power Company
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Gravity, Timber Crib, Earth
Impounds St. Joseph River
Height41 ft (12 m)
Length946 ft (288 m)
Power Station
Operator(s)Indiana & Michigan Power Company
Commission date1900

Twin Branch Dam is the tallest dam with a hydroelectric power station on the St. Joseph River in Indiana. When it was first commissioned, it was called the Hen Island Dam. [2] The name Twin Branch Dam comes from the Twin Branch Creek which empties into the St. Joseph River just above the dam. [3] The prior name for the dam, "Hen Island Dam," came from an island that used to be just below the dam where a riverboat resident used the island to raise geese and chickens. [3] There were two islands, one named "Hen Island" and the other "Goose Island". Both islands were taken by the river by the 1950s. [3]

Contents

Prior dam attempt

In 1835 was the first attempt to build a dam on the St. Joseph River near the Twin Branch Dam it was commissioned by the St. Joseph Iron Works. [3] The attempt was abandoned in 1837. [3]

The dam was built by the Sanderson & Porter, company of New York City. [1] The dam was commissioned on February 26, 1900. [1] The company that commissioned the dam was the St. Joseph and Elkhart Power Company. It was incorporated on February 28, 1900, with a first issue of capital stock for $50,000. [4] The company took over the Home Electric Light and Power Company. [5]

They acquired the rights to over a thousand acres of land that would be flooded. [1] Because of the size of the dam and the view that it would impact the planned project upstream by the Indiana Power Company, litigation between the two companies was filed. [1] The case was Indiana Power Company vs. St. Joseph and Elkhart Power Company St. Joseph C.C. [6] The planned project for the Hen Island Dam was successful in the Circuit Court, the Indiana Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case. [1] The legal battle took over two years and was settled between the two companies. [1]

The St. Joseph and Elkhart Power company was also sued by the St. Joseph Navigation Company in Federal Court, seeking an injunction to stop the dam. [7] The case was filed because the dam would block navigation up the river. [7]

The original plan was for the plant to have six alternating three-phase generators of 800 kilowatts each, with thirty large turbine wheels connected in tandem. [8]

Construction

There were 30 arc lights that had been installed to allow construction to take place at night on the project. [9] Over 2.5 million feet of lumber was used to construct the dam. [1] The lumber was used to build cribbing and drive piles 20 feet into the river. [1] There were over 2,000 piles driven into the river bed. [1] They were filled with gravel and stone. The dam when it was built housed four horizontal turbine wheels that measured 51-inch. [9]

In 1922 the dam was in need of repair Indiana & Michigan constructed a concert cover over a steel frame. [1] [3] In the 1922 upgrades the power plant finally got the two new generators to bring the dam's generators to the planned six. [3] In 1957, the dam only generated 7,200 kilowatts of power. [3]

History

When the Hen Island Dam was in the process of being built it was billed as "The Great Dam Now Under Construction at Hen Island is a Stupendous Feat of Engineering. Interesting Legal Battle." [1] The power plant was connected to the Elkhart Power Company and power was first produced on December 16, 1903, while the dam was still under the control of Sanderson & Porter. [10]

In 1904, Charles A Chapin, purchased the interest that South Bend Electric Co had in the dam for over a $1,000,000. [11] St. Joseph and Elkhart Power company merged with the Indiana & Michigan company in 1907. [3]

A $3.4 million upgrade was made to the power plant in 1989, [12] with two generators replaced as part of the upgrade. [12] The generators were replaced after a period of nine-years being out of service, one was out of service because of shaft failure, the other was broken down in 1979, performing only at 60% operation. [12]

Operation

This hydro-electric dam is capable of producing 2,600 kilowatts. The dam has been owned and operated by American Electric Power/Indiana Michigan Power since 1922. [13]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Harnessing the Broad St. Joseph River". The Indianapolis Journal. August 23, 1903. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  2. ↑ Dolley, John (May 1, 1933). "Preliminary Notes on the Biology of the St. Joseph River". The American Midland Naturalist. 14 (3): 193–227.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Nov 03, 1957, page 46 - The South Bend Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Power Plans". Richmond daily palladium. February 28, 1900. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Indiana Notes". The Indianapolis journal. February 1, 1901. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Higher Courts' Record Supreme Court". April 24, 1902. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Million Dollars for a Dam: Argument in the case of the St. Joseph Navigation Company". The Indianapolis journal. January 7, 1903. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  8. ↑ "The St. Joseph Valley To Have a Mammoth Power Plant-Detail of Scheme" (PDF). Kalamazoo Telegraph. October 8, 1901. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Turbine Pits and Foundation For Power House at Twin Branch Dam near Completion". The South Bend Tribune. October 11, 1902. p. 8.
  10. ↑ "Power is Delivered from hen Island". The Indianapolis journal. December 18, 1903. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Charles A. Chapin: Reported to have Purchased a Big Power Plant at Mishawaka" (PDF). Kalamazoo Saturday Telegraph. February 27, 1904. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 Dodson, Paul (August 13, 1989) [August 13, 1989]. "Twin Branch hydro dam given a boost". Newspapers.com. The South Bend Tribune. p. 41. Retrieved June 30, 2024.
  13. ↑ "CELEBRATING NATIONAL HYDROPOWER DAY". Indiana Michigan Power. August 24, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
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