contributor unknown Congress
authorized a $54,000,000 hydroelectric flood control dam in 1938 on the
Red River about four miles northwest of Denison, Texas. The efforts for
a dam was initiated a dozen years earlier by George D. Moulton, dispite
much skepticism. In the preliminary stages, a survey was
conducted by U.S. Engineers under Capt. Leser F. Rhodes in 1936-1937.
"The dam is to create a reservoir with a shore line of 1,224 miles, backing water as far up the river as Gainesville. More than 200,00 acres are embraced in the basin area, and the lake will impound 9,300,000 acre feet of water. Of earth, with a clay core, the dam is planned to extend 15.350 feet from the steep Texas embankment to the opposite side of the river and to be 190 feet in height with a crest of 32 feet, sufficient for a two-lane highway. It is to be supplemented by a levee 5.84 miles long, with a crest width of 24 feet, which will reach to the point beyound Platter, Oklahoma. The 30,226,000 cubic yards of earth necessary for construction of the dam itself and the 2,525,000 cubic yards needed for the levee are to be obtained from burrow pits as close to the dam site as possible. Army engineers under Capt. Lucius D. Clay, in 1939, had established a district office at Denison for the completion of necessary survey work, the drawing of detailed plans and specifications, and further foundation borings at Bear's Ferry dam site. Deep footings will be necessary through the shifting sands of the river bed to support the dam's great weight. The spillway, with an elevation of 600 feet, is to be 2,000 feet wide, its channel to empty into Shawnee Creek and the water to return to the river about a mile downstream, and is not expected to be in use except during sever flood conditions. Other dam appurtenances include a power house with its outlets, the flood regulating gates, and a fuse plug far toward the Oklahoma end of the structure. During the progress of construction, the river is to be diverted." POWER HOUSE EXTERIOR 
POWER HOUSE EXTERIOR COMPLETED 
POWER HOUSE INTERIOR 
Photographs (Library of Congress) 
The Denison Guide: Complied and written by the Federal Writer's Project of the Works progress Administration in the State of Texas Denison Chamber of Commerce, Cooperating Sponsor; Published by the Denison Chamber of Commerce, Denison, Texas 1939,pg15-16 Denison History Copyright © 2024, TXGenWeb. If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |