Buford Dam

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Dam in Buford, Georgia, U.S.

Dam in Buford, Georgia

CountryUnited States

Coordinates34°09′37″N 84°04′26″W / 34.16028°N 84.07389°W / 34.16028; -84.07389

PurposeMulti-purpose

Buford Dam

Buford Dam Location of Buford Dam in Georgia Show map of Georgia Buford Dam Buford Dam (the United States) Show map of the United States
Country	United States
Location	Buford, Georgia
Coordinates	34°09′37″N 84°04′26″W / 34.16028°N 84.07389°W / 34.16028; -84.07389
Purpose	Multi-purpose
Status	Operational
Construction began	March 1, 1950; 76 years ago (1950-03-01)
Opening date	October 9, 1957; 68 years ago (1957-10-09)
Operator	United States Army Corps of Engineers
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earth fill dam
Impounds	Chattahoochee River
Height (thalweg)	192 ft (59 m)^[1]
Length	1,630 ft (500 m)^[2]
Width (crest)	40 ft (12 m)^[2]
Width (base)	1,000 ft (300 m)^[2]
Spillways	1^[2]
Spillway type	Uncontrolled chute^[2]
Reservoir
Creates	Lake Lanier
Power Station
Commission date	1958; 68 years ago (1958)^[3]
Annual generation	250 GWh

Buford Dam is a dam in Buford, Georgia which is located at the southern end of Lake Lanier,^[4] a reservoir formed by the construction of the dam in 1956. The dam itself is managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

The dam is made of earth and concrete,^[5] supplemented by three saddle dikes,^[1] and was built to provide a water source for the Atlanta area, power homes, and prevent flooding of the Chattahoochee River.^[6]^[7]

Electricity from the dam is marketed by the Southeastern Power Administration.^[8]

Congress authorized construction of the dam in 1946,^[9] and in 1949 the federal government gave the State of Georgia $750,000 (equivalent to $10,036,307 in 2025^[10]) towards the building of the dam and accompanying powerhouse.^[5]

On March 1, 1950, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, which included dignitaries such as Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield.^[6]^[9] The United States Army Corps of Engineers oversaw the construction of the dam.^[6]

During construction, land was bought in the area that would become the reservoir. Homes, churches, graveyards, and all other structures that would float were removed or burned.^[6] Many residents in the reservoir area fought the buying of their homes with unsuccessful civil lawsuits.^[6]

The powerhouse required crews to use dynamite to blast a U-shaped space through granite rock structures to hollow out an area for the powerhouse and release gates.^[5] During the construction of the dam, Johnnie Callahan died during a rockslide when cutting an intake tunnel into the face of the granite rock wall.^[11]

On February 1, 1956, the dam was completed when the sluice gates were closed and Lake Lanier began to fill.^[12] Unit 2 began operation on June 20, 1957, Unit 3 on July 26, 1957, and Unit 1 on October 10, 1957.^[13] The dam was dedicated on October 9, 1957.^[9] The power plant went into full-scale operation in July 1958,^[13] and the lake reached its intended level on August 1 of that year.^[14]

Operation

When water is released from the dam's turbines, several sirens sound as well as an AM warning broadcast.^[5]

The dam also has a 13.25 ft (4.04 m) diameter sluice which can be used to allow water to bypass the turbines.^[1]

Downriver from the dam is a trout breeding hatchery, which is one of the southernmost hatcheries for trout, due to the cool temperature of the water that the dam releases.^[5]

Powerhouse

The powerhouse at the dam has three generators: the main generator, a small 7.5 megawatt generator which runs constantly,^[15] and two 60 megawatt generators that run twice daily during times of peak electricity demand.^[9] The powerhouse provides 250 GWh (900 TJ) of electricity annually to the metro Atlanta area.^[16] Control of the Buford Dam generators is done remotely from Carters Dam near Ellijay, Georgia via a microwave signal.^[5]^[9] The power generated is delivered to Georgia Power.^[1]

The powerhouse is cooled by the temperature of the water running through the dam, which is approximately 52 °F (11 °C) year-round.^[5]

In 2002, the US Army Corps of Engineers spent $8.5 million to provide upgrades to the powerhouse.^[17]

Goats

Because the earthen slopes on the outer side of the dam exceed 40% grade (21.8°, 1 in 2.5) and contain rocks and drop-off points, they are too steep and unsafe to be practically maintained by a landscaping crew.^[18] To address this, the US Army Corps of Engineers use goats to maintain the grass and vegetation on the slope^[9] as it is more economically viable than alternatives.^[5] Goats have been used since the 1970s for this purpose, and there are sixteen goats that maintain the grounds, known as the "Chew Crew". There is also a donkey onsite that is used to protect the goats from coyotes.^[18]

References

1 2 3 4 United States. Army. Corps of Engineers (1975). Buford Dam and Lake Sidney Lanier Flood Control, Navigation, Power: Environmental Impact Statement (Report). Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 "Buford Dam – Chattahoochee River, Georgia – Pertinent Data". janandpat.net. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ "Hydropower Facilities". United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ "Buford Dam Park on Lake Lanier". September 23, 2019. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cook, Chelsea (August 13, 2010). "Buford Dam: A unique little powerhouse". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 Kerns, Sabrina (September 8, 2020). "Below the surface: How Lake Lanier came to be". Forsyth County News. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ Collier, Michael; Webb, Robert H.; Schmidt, John C. (2000). Dams and Rivers A Primer on the Downstream Effects of Dams. U.S. Geological Survey, Branch of Information Services. p. 39. ISBN 9780788126987. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ "Generation – Southeastern Power Administration". Energy.gov. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Gill, Jeff (September 5, 2009). "Inside Buford Dam, Lake Laniers powerhouse". The Gainesville Times. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
↑ Hembree, Brandon (February 18, 2021). "History: Remembering a Buford Dam hero's contributions to Georgia". North Gwinnett Voice. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ Coggin, Dan (February 2, 1956). "Buford Dam Gates Shut To Form Lake Lanier on Poet's Loved River". The Atlanta Constitution. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved December 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 Tetra Tech (October 2015). Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Update of the Water Control Manual for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and a Water Supply Storage Assessment (PDF) (Report). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
↑ "Lake Lanier history: Completion of Buford Dam meant reservoir could fill". North Gwinnett Voice. October 17, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
↑ "Buford Dam – Lake Lanier". LakeLanier.com. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
↑ "Buford Dam (U.S. National Park Service)". National Park Service. February 4, 2021. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
↑ "Lake Lanier history: Crews complete structures that would become Buford Dam". North Gwinnett Voice. September 21, 2021. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
1 2 Barker, John (March 16, 2018). "Goats At Dam Cut Landscaping Costs For Corps". Patch.com. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.

Gillespie, Deanna M. (2016). "'Revolutionize Life in the Chattahoochee River Valley': Buford Dam and the Development of Northeastern Georgia, 1950–1970". Georgia Historical Quarterly. 100 (4): 404–440. JSTOR 44651734.

Powerhouse

Goats

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