Mountain Park Dam
Encyclopedia
Mountain Park, Oklahoma
Mountain Park is a town in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 409 at the 2010 census.-Embezzlement:On March 7, 2008, KSWO-TV reported that the former town clerk was fired for allegedly secretly embezzling $100,000 over a period of two years, leaving the town unable to pay its...
. Snyder Lake was drained to accommodate construction of Mountain Park Dam, then restored upon completion of construction, which was performed by O'Neal Construction, Inc. of Ann Arbor, MI. The lake is maintained at sufficient elevation to provide a plunge pool
Plunge pool
A plunge pool can be a natural hydrologic fluvial landform feature or a constructed recreational garden feature...
for water released or spilled from the dam. Mountain Park dam impounds the waters of Tom Steed Reservoir
Tom Steed Reservoir
Created in 1975, Tom Steed Reservoir is a reservoir in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, northwest of the city of Snyder, Oklahoma. The reservoir is approximately 6400 acres of water created by damming West Otter Creek and diverting flows of Elk Creek through the Bretch Diversion Canal by Mountain Park Dam...
.
A thin double-curvature concrete arch flanked by concrete thrust blocks, Mountain Park Dam is 535 feet (163.1 m) in length with a maximum structural height of 133 feet (40.5 m). This dam and the rolled earth East and West Dike embankments, which extend 10311 feet (3,142.8 m) and 13235 feet (4,034 m), respectively, form the Tom Steed Reservoir
Tom Steed Reservoir
Created in 1975, Tom Steed Reservoir is a reservoir in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, northwest of the city of Snyder, Oklahoma. The reservoir is approximately 6400 acres of water created by damming West Otter Creek and diverting flows of Elk Creek through the Bretch Diversion Canal by Mountain Park Dam...
. The reservoir has a total capacity of 117825 acre.ft, an active capacity of 109276 acre.ft, and a surface area at the top of conservation pool of approximately 6400 acres (26 km²).
The outlet works
Outlet works
A set of outlet works is a device used to release and regulate water flow from a dam. Such devices usually consist of one or more pipes or tunnels through the embankment of the dam, directing water usually under high pressure to the river downstream...
for Mountain Park Dam are in the left thrust block and include three outlet pipes, trashracks, fish screen
Fish screen
A fish screen is designed to prevent fish from swimming or being drawn into an aqueduct, cooling water intake, dam or other diversion on a river, lake or waterway where water is taken for human use. They are built to supply debris-free water without harming aquatic life...
s, emergency and operating slide gates, and motor-operated gate hoists. A 42-inch-diameter, joint-use outlet pipe is provided to release water into the aqueduct system; an 84-inch-diameter flood outlet pipe and a 15-inch-diameter river outlet pipe are provided to release floodwater and small streamflows. The joint-use outlet to the aqueduct system contains two gated intakes at elevations 1382.0 and 1401.0 to permit selection of the level of the reservoir from which water is to he withdrawn; water from both levels may be mixed. This outlet also is provided with fish screens.
The concrete arch portion of Mountain Park Dam functions as an uncontrolled, overflow spillway. The crest is at the top of the exclusive flood control pool at elevation 1,414.0, and is 320 feet (97.5 m) long measured along the axis of the dam. Concrete piers and training walls at each end of the spillway direct floodwater into and over the crest. Floodwaters fall into a plunge pool energy dissipater at the toe of the dam. The spillway is designed for a maximum discharge of 38300 cubic feet (1,084.5 m³) per second with the reservoir at elevation 1423.6 feet (433.9 m).