Cheesman Dam | |
---|---|
Location | Jefferson County, Colorado, USA |
Coordinates | 39°12′27.03″N 105°16′20.05″W / 39.2075083°N 105.2722361°W |
Purpose | Water supply |
Opening date | 1905 |
Operator(s) | Denver Water |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Masonry, gravity arch |
Impounds | South Platte River |
Height | 221 feet (67 m) |
Length | 735 feet (224 m) |
Width (crest) | 18 feet (5.5 m) |
Spillway type | Concrete crest weir |
Spillway capacity | 22,370 cu ft/s (633 m3/s) |
Reservoir | |
Total capacity | 79,064 acre-feet (0.097524 km3) |
Surface area | 877 acres (355 ha) |
Cheesman Dam is a 211-foot-tall (64 m) masonry curved gravity dam on the South Platte River located in Colorado. It was the tallest of its type in the world when completed in 1905. [1] The primary purpose of the dam is water supply and it was named for Colorado businessman, Walter Cheesman. In 1973 it was designated a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. [2] Denver Water purchased the reservoir and related facilities in 1918. [3]
The location for the new dam was explored by chief engineer C.P. Allen on during a fishing trip on September 23, 1893. [4] The first stage was to build a diversion tunnel in 1898, which after the completion of the dam would become the outlet. [5] The plans called for an embankment dam faced with concrete and metal some 200 feet tall, which began to rise in 1899. [4] This was not to be as after one year of work, on the morning of May 3, 1900, the river began to rise after a heavy rainstorm added to the already high spring river flow. The water filled the outlet pipe and then overtopped the diversion heading for the construction site. [5] The company sent out men to warn those downstream that the still incomplete structure could not last for long. Residents of Littleton, Colorado were warned at 10:00 AM that the flood would arrive in three hours. The dam was overtopped and swept away leaving only a remnant of the masonry wall. [4]
After this disaster the Denver Union Water Company planned a new structure in the same location. The new design would be a hybrid arch-gravity dam constructed of masonry. [5] Construction was renewed and lasted until 1905. At completion the dam was the tallest in the world, a title it would hold for seven years, until 1912. [4] Water flowed over the new dam's spillway for the first time on May 9, 1905. [5]