Holyoke Dam
Dam in Hampden County and Hampshire County Massachusetts / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Hadley Falls Dam?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Holyoke Dam, also referred to as the Hadley Falls Dam, or Hadley Falls Station is a granite dam built in tandem with the Holyoke Canal System at Hadley Falls on the Connecticut River, between Holyoke and South Hadley, Massachusetts.[3] The water differential created by the dam produced mechanical hydropower for industrial uses in Holyoke, and later hydroelectric power.
Holyoke Dam | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Location | Hampden County and Hampshire County Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°12′49″N 72°36′06″W |
Purpose | Power, regulation, industrial |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1895 |
Opening date | 1900 (124 years ago) (1900) |
Construction cost | ≈$1,000,000 (1900)[1] |
Built by | Fruin-Baurbrick H. S. Hopkins, St. Louis[2] |
Owner(s) | Holyoke Gas & Electric |
Operator(s) | Holyoke Gas & Electric |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Granite gravity |
Impounds | Connecticut River |
Height (foundation) | 30 ft (33.5 ft while rubber bladder is inflated) |
Length | 1,020 ft (310 m) |
Elevation at crest | 94.6 ft (28.8 m) |
The current dam is the third structure to be built across the Great Falls at South Hadley. [4] The dam, along with the Canal System and its Testing Flume, is recognized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark for its use by Clemens Herschel in the development of the Venturi meter, the first means of measuring large-scale flows, and the McCormick-Holyoke Turbine by John B. McCormick, also known as the Hercules Turbine, which doubled the efficiency of turbines to more than 80% in its time.[5]