Loud Dam

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Loud Dam
Loud Dam Au Sable River.jpg
Loud Dam Tailwater 2017
Relief map of USA Michigan.png
Red pog.svg
Location within the state of Michigan
Location Oscoda Township, Iosco County, Michigan
Coordinates 44°27′49″N83°43′20″W / 44.4635456°N 83.7222398°W / 44.4635456; -83.7222398 Coordinates: 44°27′49″N83°43′20″W / 44.4635456°N 83.7222398°W / 44.4635456; -83.7222398
Opening date1913
Owner(s)Consumers Energy
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Embankment dam
Spillways 3
Power Station
Turbines 2 Allis-Chalmers
Installed capacity 4 MW

Loud Dam is a hydro-electric dam [1] on the Au Sable River in Michigan and is located along the National Register of Historic Places River Road Scenic Byway in Northern Michigan. Loud Dam is also part of the River Road Scenic Byway and listed in the National Scenic Byways Program. [2]

Contents

Description

The Loud Hydroelectric Plant consists of a series of structures located on the Au Sable River. The main dam is constructed with an embankment on each side connected by a spillway. Located near the spillway is the powerhouse and outdoor substation. Public access to Loud Pond is provided via a boat ramp maintained by Consumers Energy, and portage facilities are also provided allowing canoes and kayaks access to bypass the dam. Portage the dam on either the right or the left. The right portage is a 250-yard carry down a gravel road with a canoe slide on the down river side of the dam. The left portage is much shorter but very steep and offers no facilities; take out at the steel platform to climb over the concrete dam fence.

Loud Dam is also part of the River Road Scenic Byway and listed in the National Scenic Byways Program. [3]

Namesake

Loud Dam is named after the Loud lumber family, particularly Edward F. Loud, who had done extensive lumber business along the Au Sable and bought up most of the cutover Au Sable lands between 1900-06, then later partnered with company founder William Foote and others to build the Au Sable hydros. Loud owned most of the lands on the Au Sable River from Mio to Oscoda prior to selling them to the power company in 1909. Loud retired after helping to promote the Au Sable River hydro-electric power development and he and his wife bought and developed Loud Island, a 30-acre summer retreat in the heart of Van Etten Lake just two miles from the shores of Lake Huron, near the city of Oscoda, in northeastern Michigan. Edward Francis Loud was the son of 19th century Oscoda lumber tycoon Henry M. Loud. The Detroit Free Press described the Loud family lumber business, H.M. Loud Co., as one of the state's richest lumbar companies. [4] Upon his death in January of 1952, newspapers in Maine, Michigan, and New York ran stories including the New York Times (Jan 20, 1952, Pg 84) who ran an article about Loud with the headline "LUMBER 'KING' DIES AT 93". [5] The Daily News in New York City said (Jan 20, 1952, pg 71), "one of the last of Michigan's lumber kings, died today."

Technical Information

Capable of producing 4 megawatts, it was the 3rd hydro dam completed along the Au Sable River by Consumers Power Company and was completed in 1913 [6] The Loud dam is one of 6 dams portaged by canoe race teams during the 120-mile long overnight Au Sable River Canoe Marathon that happens each summer. [7] According to the book "The Lower Peninsula of Michigan: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites" by Charles K Hyde the Loud dam is an earth embankment dam utilizing a reinforced concrete core wall creating a head of 27 feet of water. The original installation is still intact including the two Allis-Chalmers horizontal turbines and two General Electric generators each producing 2,000 KW, 2,500-volts, and operating at 120 R.P.M. The powerhouse is a flat-roofed, rectangular building measuring 40 ft wide by 120 ft long and resting on a concrete foundation. The spillway is concrete with three tainter gates capable of discharging 16,650 cubic feet per second. [8]

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Oscoda, Michigan Census-designated place & unincorporated community in Michigan, United States

Oscoda is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan located on the northern side of the Au Sable River where it enters Lake Huron. The community of Au Sable is on the other side of the river. Oscoda is in Oscoda Township in Iosco County, and not in Oscoda County, which is to the northwest. Oscoda was incorporated as a village in 1885, but disincorporated in 1919 after forest fires devastated the area. The 1990 census population was 1,061, although 3,000 personnel were stationed at nearby Wurtsmith Air Force Base. Oscoda is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes. As of the 2000 census, the population was 992, and in 2010 the population was 903. The post office at Oscoda first opened with the name AuSable on September 23, 1856. The name changed to Oscoda on July 1, 1875.

Au Sable River (Michigan)

The Au Sable River in Michigan, United States runs approximately 138 miles (222 km) through the northern Lower Peninsula, through the towns of Grayling and Mio, and enters Lake Huron at the town of Oscoda. It is considered one of the best brown trout fisheries east of the Rockies and has been designated a blue ribbon trout stream by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. French Rivière au sable means "Sand River." A 1795 map calls it the Beauais River.

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References

  1. River Road Scenic Byway - Tailwater View of Loud Dam. Series: Digital Photographs Relating to America's Byways, 1956 - 2008. 2013.
  2. "AuSable River Tour". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013.
  3. "AuSable River Tour". Archived from the original on October 22, 2013.
  4. Detroit Free Press, Jan 20, 1952, Section A, Page 9, Titled "Lumber Pioneer Dies at 93"
  5. "I 'LUMBER 'KING' DIES AT 93[; I Edward F. Loud Was PartnerI in Former Michigan Company J". The New York Times. January 20, 1952.
  6. "Meet the Dams on the Route of the Au Sable River Canoe Marathon". June 28, 2019.
  7. "AuSable River Canoe Marathon | World's Toughest Spectator Race".
  8. Hyde, Charles K. (June 27, 1976). "The Lower Peninsula of Michigan: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites". Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, Historic American Engineering Record via Google Books.