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General Information

Beginning of works: 1931
Completion: 1937
Status: in use

Project Type

Location

Location: , , ,
Crosses:
  • Colorado River (Texas)
Coordinates: 30° 45' 5.46" N    98° 25' 5.55" W
Show coordinates on a map

Technical Information

Dimensions

height 44.3 m
crest length 3 349.0 m
base thickness 65.6 m
number of arches 29

Materials

dam structure reinforced concrete

Excerpt from Wikipedia

The Buchanan Dam (/ˈbʌkænən/) is a multiple arch dam located on the Colorado River of Texas. The dam forms Lake Buchanan and was the first dam to be completed in the chain of Texas Highland Lakes. The dam is used for generating hydroelectric power and for flood control and is located about 12 miles (19 km) west of Burnet, Texas.

History

Construction of the then-named George W. Hamilton Dam was started in 1931 by a company controlled by Samuel Insull, but soon ended with the dam less than half completed when his highly leveraged public utility holding company collapsed during the Great Depression. In 1934, the Texas legislature authorized the formation of the Lower Colorado River Authority to complete the Hamilton dam. Following completion in 1937, the dam was renamed for U.S. Representative James P. Buchanan, who helped obtain federal funding for the project from the Public Works Administration.

Construction of the dam required the relocation of the town of Bluffton, Texas. Relocation began in 1931 and was complete by 1939. A 2011 drought re-exposed the old Bluffton townsite.

Following a flood along the river in 1938, in which the dam was required to pass through all of the flow of water, there was criticism of the dam project as failing to meet ist promise of preventing downstream floods. However, at the time it was pointed out that the Buchanan Dam was just the first in a series of four flood control dams, and that prevention of flooding would not be possible until they were finished.

Text imported from Wikipedia article "Buchanan Dam" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.

Participants

(role unknown)
Strengthening (2001)
Owner
Structural engineering
Contractor
Subcontractor

Relevant Web Sites

Relevant Publications

  • About this
    data sheet
  • Structure-ID
    20003651
  • Published on:
    17/06/2002
  • Last updated on:
    07/05/2024
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