Twin Branch Dam (Indiana)
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| Twin Branch Dam | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Twin Branch Dam |
| Country | United States |
| Location | St. Joseph County, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 41°39′57″N 86°07′58″W / 41.665887°N 86.13272°W |
| Purpose | Power |
| Status | Operational |
| Opening date | 1903 |
| Construction cost | $2,000,000 [1] |
| Owner(s) | Indiana & Michigan Power Company |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity, Timber Crib, Earth |
| Impounds | St. Joseph River |
| Height | 41 ft (12 m) |
| Length | 946 ft (288 m) |
| Power Station | |
| Operator(s) | Indiana & Michigan Power Company |
| Commission date | 1900 |
Twin Branch Dam is the tallest dam with a hydroelectric power station on the St. Joseph River in Indiana. When it was first commissioned, it was called the Hen Island Dam.[2] The name Twin Branch Dam comes from the Twin Branch Creek which empties into the St. Joseph River just above the dam.[3] The prior name for the dam, "Hen Island Dam," came from an island that used to be just below the dam where a riverboat resident used the island to raise geese and chickens.[3] There were two islands, one named "Hen Island" and the other "Goose Island". Both islands were taken by the river by the 1950s.[3]
Planning and legal battle
The dam was built by the Sanderson & Porter, company of New York City.[1] The dam was commissioned on February 26, 1900.[1] The company that commissioned the dam was the St. Joseph and Elkhart Power Company. It was incorporated on February 28, 1900, with a first issue of capital stock for $50,000.[4] The company took over the Home Electric Light and Power Company.[5]
They acquired the rights to over a thousand acres of land that would be flooded.[1] Because of the size of the dam and the view that it would impact the planned project upstream by the Indiana Power Company, litigation between the two companies was filed.[1] The case was Indiana Power Company vs. St. Joseph and Elkhart Power Company St. Joseph C.C.[6] The planned project for the Hen Island Dam was successful in the Circuit Court, the Indiana Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case.[1] The legal battle took over two years and was settled between the two companies.[1]
The St. Joseph and Elkhart Power company was also sued by the St. Joseph Navigation Company in Federal Court, seeking an injunction to stop the dam.[7] The case was filed because the dam would block navigation up the river.[7]
The original plan was for the plant to have six alternating three-phase generators of 800 kilowatts each, with thirty large turbine wheels connected in tandem.[8]
Construction
There were 30 arc lights that had been installed to allow construction to take place at night on the project.[9] Over 2.5 million feet of lumber was used to construct the dam.[1] The lumber was used to build cribbing and drive piles 20 feet into the river.[1] There were over 2,000 piles driven into the river bed.[1] They were filled with gravel and stone. The dam when it was built housed four horizontal turbine wheels that measured 51-inch.[9]
In 1922 the dam was in need of repair Indiana & Michigan constructed a concert cover over a steel frame.[1][3] In the 1922 upgrades the power plant finally got the two new generators to bring the dam's generators to the planned six.[3] In 1957, the dam only generated 7,200 kilowatts of power.[3]
History
When the Hen Island Dam was in the process of being built it was billed as "The Great Dam Now Under Construction at Hen Island is a Stupendous Feat of Engineering. Interesting Legal Battle."[1] The power plant was connected to the Elkhart Power Company and power was first produced on December 16, 1903, while the dam was still under the control of Sanderson & Porter.[10]
In 1904, Charles A Chapin, purchased the interest that South Bend Electric Co had in the dam for over a $1,000,000.[11] St. Joseph and Elkhart Power company merged with the Indiana & Michigan company in 1907.[3]
A $3.4 million upgrade was made to the power plant in 1989,[12] with two generators replaced as part of the upgrade.[12] The generators were replaced after a period of nine-years being out of service, one was out of service because of shaft failure, the other was broken down in 1979, performing only at 60% operation.[12]
