Blue Mesa Dam
Encyclopedia
Blue Mesa Dam is a 390 feet (118.9 m) zoned earthfill dam on the Gunnison River
in Colorado
. It creates Blue Mesa Reservoir
, and is within Curecanti National Recreation Area
just before the river enters the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The dam is upstream of the Morrow Point Dam
. Blue Mesa Dam and reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project
, which retains the waters of the Colorado River
and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. The dam's primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation. Colorado State Highway 92
passes over the top of the dam. Blue Mesa Dam houses two turbine generators and produces an average of 264,329,000 kilowatt-hours each year.
s, schist
s and gneiss
. The earthfill dam lies at a narrows in the river valley where the Gunnison enters the upper reaches of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The zoned earthfill dam has a volume of 3080000 cubic yards (2,354,829 m³). The spillway intake structure has two radial gates, discharging into a concrete-lined tunnel, which in turn discharges through a flip bucket into a stilling basin.
Work on the dam started in 1961, with foundation drilling and survey work.Construction of the reservoir required the relocation of US 50 and Colorado State Highway 149
. This relocation was among the first work to be performed, starting in 1962 and continuing through 1964. The Sapinero Cemetery was also relocated. The primary construction contract for the dam was awarded to the Tecon Corporation of Dallas, Texas
, with notice to proceed on Aprik 23, 1962. The diversion tunnel was holed through on September 7, 1962, with excavation of the spillway tunnel completed by the April of 1963. Drilling and grouting for the dam's foundation started in March 1963. The Gunnison was diverted through its tunnel on October, with excavation of the foundation to bedrock immediately after. Placement of the dam embankments started in 1964, continuing through the year, with the dam embankment completed at the end of 1965. The diversion tunnel was partly closed in December and the reservoir began to fill, with final closure of the diversion tunnel on February 7, 1966. The dam project was declared complete on October 19, 1966.
The powerplant project was delayed by a delivery accident to a transformer, which was damaged in an accident in September 1966 near Monarch Pass
and had to be shipped back to its manufacturer in Sweden for repair. The powerplant was completed on February 16, 1968.
Spillway modifications took place in 1984-85 to repair damage, while a uniform and largely cosmetic covering of riprap
was applied to the dam face.
, which supplies two turbines, as well as feeding the outlet works. The laterals feeding the Francis turbines are controlled by 156 inches (4 m) butterfly valves. Initial generating capacity was 60 MW, increased in 1988 to 86.4 MW. The powerplant is located above ground at the toe of the dam. It operates as peaking plant.
Gunnison River
The Gunnison River is a tributary of the Colorado River, long, in the Southwest state of Colorado. It is the fifth largest tributary of the Colorado River, with a mean flow of 4320 ft³/s .-Description:...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. It creates Blue Mesa Reservoir
Blue Mesa Reservoir
-External links:* Blue Mesa related information.* Reservoir maps, conditions and fishing reports...
, and is within Curecanti National Recreation Area
Curecanti National Recreation Area
Curecanti National Recreation Area, in Colorado, is formed by three reservoirs, named for corresponding dams on the Gunnison River. The national recreation area borders Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on the west...
just before the river enters the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The dam is upstream of the Morrow Point Dam
Morrow Point Dam
Morrow Point Dam is a concrete double-arch dam on the Gunnison River located in Colorado, the first dam of its type built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Located in the upper Black Canyon of the Gunnison, it creates Morrow Point Reservoir, and is within the National Park Service-operated...
. Blue Mesa Dam and reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project
Colorado River Storage Project
The Colorado River Storage Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation project designed to oversee the development of the upper Colorado River basin...
, which retains the waters of the Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. The dam's primary purpose is hydroelectric power generation. Colorado State Highway 92
Colorado State Highway 92
Colorado State Highway 92 is a stretch of highway that runs between the small Colorado communities of Hotchkiss and Sapinero. SH-92 is long.-Route description:...
passes over the top of the dam. Blue Mesa Dam houses two turbine generators and produces an average of 264,329,000 kilowatt-hours each year.
Description
The zoned earthfill dam stands in a zone where sandstones and shales overlay pre-Cambrian graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
s, schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
s and gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
. The earthfill dam lies at a narrows in the river valley where the Gunnison enters the upper reaches of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The zoned earthfill dam has a volume of 3080000 cubic yards (2,354,829 m³). The spillway intake structure has two radial gates, discharging into a concrete-lined tunnel, which in turn discharges through a flip bucket into a stilling basin.
History
The Curecanti Project (later renamed the Wayne N. Aspinall Project) was conceived in 1955, initially with four dams. It was approved by the Secretary of the Interior in 1959, comprising Blue Mesa Dam and Morrow Point Dam. Crystal Dam's design was unfinished and was approved in 1962. Plans for a fourth dam were dropped as uneconomical. The project was restricted to the stretch of the Gunnison above Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument (later designated a national park), a 40 miles (64.4 km) length of the river. Initially planned as a concrete dam, the project was changed to an earthfill design.Work on the dam started in 1961, with foundation drilling and survey work.Construction of the reservoir required the relocation of US 50 and Colorado State Highway 149
Colorado State Highway 149
State Highway 149 is a long state highway in southwestern Colorado. Its south end is at U.S. Route 160 and its north end is at U.S. Route 50.-Route description:...
. This relocation was among the first work to be performed, starting in 1962 and continuing through 1964. The Sapinero Cemetery was also relocated. The primary construction contract for the dam was awarded to the Tecon Corporation of Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, with notice to proceed on Aprik 23, 1962. The diversion tunnel was holed through on September 7, 1962, with excavation of the spillway tunnel completed by the April of 1963. Drilling and grouting for the dam's foundation started in March 1963. The Gunnison was diverted through its tunnel on October, with excavation of the foundation to bedrock immediately after. Placement of the dam embankments started in 1964, continuing through the year, with the dam embankment completed at the end of 1965. The diversion tunnel was partly closed in December and the reservoir began to fill, with final closure of the diversion tunnel on February 7, 1966. The dam project was declared complete on October 19, 1966.
The powerplant project was delayed by a delivery accident to a transformer, which was damaged in an accident in September 1966 near Monarch Pass
Monarch Pass
Monarch Pass is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado in the United States.The pass is located on the continental divide at the southern end of the Sawatch Range along the border between Gunnison and Chaffee counties, approximately west of the town of Salida. The...
and had to be shipped back to its manufacturer in Sweden for repair. The powerplant was completed on February 16, 1968.
Spillway modifications took place in 1984-85 to repair damage, while a uniform and largely cosmetic covering of riprap
Riprap
Riprap — also known as rip rap, rubble, shot rock or rock armour or "Rip-rap" — is rock or other material used to armor shorelines, streambeds, bridge abutments, pilings and other shoreline structures against scour, water or ice erosion.It is made from a variety of rock types, commonly granite or...
was applied to the dam face.
Powerplant
The Blue Mesa Powerplant is fed by one 16 feet (4.9 m) diameter penstockPenstock
A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydraulic turbines and sewerage systems. It is a term that has been inherited from the technology of wooden watermills....
, which supplies two turbines, as well as feeding the outlet works. The laterals feeding the Francis turbines are controlled by 156 inches (4 m) butterfly valves. Initial generating capacity was 60 MW, increased in 1988 to 86.4 MW. The powerplant is located above ground at the toe of the dam. It operates as peaking plant.
External links
- Blue Mesa Dam at the Bureau of Reclamation
- Blue Mesa Powerplant at the Bureau of Reclamation
- Wayne N. Aspinall Storage Unit at Curecanti National Recreation Area