Construction of Denison Dam - Essay Example

Denison Dam (TX-OK) Denison Dam, which is also referred to as Lake Texoma, is a dam situated between two s: Texas and Oklahoma on the Red River that Lake. The dam was constructed or built to serve a number off purposes such as water supply, flood control, river regulation, recreation, navigation and hydroelectric power production (Mathews p43). Initially, the dam was built to act as a project for flood control. It was completed in the year 1943 and at the time, it was considered as the largest rolled-earth filled dam in the United Staes. It derives its name from a place called Denison in Texas, which is just located downriver from the dam face. Ever since the dam was built, the lake has reached its spillway three times; which is 200m or 640 feet above the sea level: in 1957, 1990 and the most recent happened in 2007 (Mathews p44). The dam is renowned for its large size and power production magnitude. Though there are more dams that have been constructed ever since, it makes a good deal of contribution to the general output of the Unites States dams. It has 14 million cubic meters or 18,800,000 cubic yards of rolled –earth fill; it also produces about 250,000 megawatt of hydropower electricity annually. Lake Texoma itself provides about 154,000,000 cubic meters or 125,000-acre feet of water storage to the local communities in five permanent contracts. Additionally, the dam has offered some other benefits such as the federally owned and managed wildlife refuge areas. Through this, it has provided about 47 areas for recreational activities. These recreational areas are owned and run by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Ojeda p85)). There are two state parks – one situated in Texas while the other is situated in Oklahoma. In addition, there is an extra 32,000 hectors or 80,000 acres of land opened for public use as hunting grounds. Hydrology Lake Texoma has two main sources, which are the Washita river from, the north and Red river from the West. The minor sources of the dam that can be noted are the Little Mineral Creek, Big Mineral Creek, Rock Creek, Buncombe Creek and the Glasses Creek. Lake Texoma then drains to the main outlet, the Red River into the Denison dam. Water Levels Normal elevation of the pool fluctuates from 615-619 feet which is about 187-189 meters NGVP (National Geodetic Vertical Datum. These limits depend on the time of the year. The flood control section extends the height to about 197 meters (645feet) NGVD (National Geodetic Vertical Datum). Texoma Lake has crested the Denison dam’s spillway at the level of 195.07m; which is about 640 feet in three occasions. The utmost height of Denison dam is 670 feet while the highest elevation of water level was noted in 1990 at 644.76 feet (Mathews p44). Islands and Parks, and Popularity Lake Texoma has two parks, which are controlled by the United States. Army Corps. There are numerous of islands in the lake; the islands are uninhabited though. The Lake is very popular and this popularity is attributed to its remarkable size as well as its location. The lake is located near Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex where one only needs an hour’s drive to reach. The Lake region , which is only referred to as Texoma is a highly growing area economically attributed to the large number of tourists that visit the area annually. Civilization and Culture Denison dam’s construction was authorized by the flood control act which was approved and brought into effectiveness in 1938, June 28; the Public Law 75-791, for the control of flood and generation of hydroelectric power. the dam’s inlet-outlet and the spillways were the first constructions to be made including the sides that were earth-filled. The years of commencement and completion were in 1039 and 1944 respectively. There after, the different roles of the dam were effected on different dates i.e. in was put into operation for the control of flood in 1944. The first hydroelectric turbine placed to generate power was placed into operation in March 1945 while the second was placed into operation in September the same year. During the construction, the towns of Oklahoma and Woodville were submerged by the lake and the site later exposed to severe drought after many years in 2011. The town of Aylesworth was mostly submerged by the lake’s construction (Mathews p51). The dam was constructed when the people had developed high cultures. People would celebrate such events and work together against the dam’s construction communally. At the time, there was high sociopolitical complexity, which had high cultures of civilization and states. There were protocols to be followed before such major constructions could take place and high ranked people had to be consulted in order to initiate the project. People would come together at the event and members of the community would volunteer for the work. The dam had volunteer prisoners working on in. Businesses also existed in broader forms and there were construction firms that had to be hired towards the dam’s construction; these contractors would make the whole program and how the workers were paid (ASCE p53). Even though technology was less advanced as it is in the today’s world, people worked manually to near perfection as compared to the today’s constructions, which are characterized with sophisticated machines, and human labor is only applied on machine operations. The4 government was stable and there were specialists to handle the skilled work. There were engineers, construction teams, managers, hydrologists and designers. There were heavy earth-moving machinery too that could be used to clear the construction site and create the reservoir for the dam. Unlike in the today’s towns, the people of towns at that time would gather as a common unit and work together, share values and celebrate events that were perceived to be beneficial to them. The culture at the time complimented well with the civilization that existed. This is to say, in an era of less technological advantage, people needed the state of togetherness and communal functioning in order to meet the recommended performance. After numerous exchanges of communications between the concerned parties (mainly the United States Army Corps of Engineers), and the government, they finally agreed on the dam’s construction. They chose the best location of the Dam site: Denison (ASCE p20). The Impromptu party was set by the Denisonians to celebrate the estimations and the appropriation of funds that was to be used in the dam’s construction. A more formal event followed the party; the events were meant to appreciate and honor the congressional representative of the time: Sam Rayburn, for his efforts and the role he played in bringing the dam’s construction from dream to reality. Scores of dignitaries and hundreds of visitors had arrived from Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas to the town of Denison for the starting event of the construction of Denison dam. The city was magnificent as many arrived for the event and the celebration was characterized by city decorations. The culture and the mood at the time were marked with celebrations and partying. The streets of Denison were festooned with white, red and blue banners; the patriotic bunting also decorated the windows of the stores and awnings. The party started with the dignitaries invited other principal guests having lunch at the Denison’s hotel. At four, the people of the town gathered at Forest Park for Speeches, followed by a huge barbecue. Nineteen days before Rayburn festival, the work on the dam officially ensued. The 1st tree was fallen on the construction site followed by many others creating cleared thirty acres at the dam site. This initial work was performed by the German prisoners of war fro the Erwin Rommel’s Africa Corps. These prisoners of war were the ones captured North Africa when the British and America forces defeated the Italians and Germans in the region. Many of them were sent to stockades in Texas because the Geneva Convention required that the prisoners of war should be held in similar climate to the climates of the places where they were caught; and this area, Southeast America had climates similar to those of Morocco, Tunisia and Libya. The first German prisoners arrived in America in 1943 and camps were established in Powell, Tishomingo and Oklahoma for the prisoners who volunteered to work on the project. They were paid in canteen vouchers for eight cent per day. Procedure of Construction The project became proper underway in 1939 on September 22 when the Katy brought a load of equipment that would be used for moving earth to the dam site over the spur track that was newly constructed. The heavy machine started hitting upon the ground on October 2. The procedure of the dam was well calculated and one event followed the other in a complimentary style. First, the inlet-outlet structure, the great concrete and the Powerhouse was brought in to the dam site on the Texas side where the Trinity sand and the Goodland limestone lied. This was the first phase of the project and when it was completed, the working team laid a system of huge tubes that were intended to channel the water from the lake (ASCE p74). They were laid beneath the dam and channeled the water to the powerhouse and the dams. Simultaneously, another set of work was going on the eastern embankment reaching out on the river sides. At that time, the construction of the embankment that was mostly set on the Oklahoma side was the largest project of the kind ever to be undertaken in the whole world. Upon completion of the embankment, a coffer dam was constructed to change the direction of the flow of Red River from its natural channel through the new intake structure that was earlier constructed. The workmen the filled the gap that remained in the embankment to refrain the river from flowing into the sea. Tools Used for the Construction of the Dam At the time, there were no sophisticated tools and equipments to be used in the construction of the river. The tools were simple like spades which were manually used by the workmen. The men working on the dam site were paid per day and the prisoners were paid on canteen vouchers. The only machinery available at the time was the heavy transportation mover which was used move the earth to the side of the dam; creating the banks of the rivers and dam. Tractors were also employed in the procedure to move heavy loads of earth. Labor Employed in the Construction of the dam The most applied workforce in the construction of the dam was majorly human labor. As explained before, the dam was constructed at the time of the WWII and the technology had not yet advanced as is seen today. Human labor was therefore of great significance at the time. Many people who worked at the construction site were able strong men who could take the heavy manual roles without complain or retreat. However, some workers still perished in the work site due to the harsh working conditions that they were exposed to. The dust and the heavy manual work got some of them sick and many workers ha dot flee the job. Carrier machines performed work like the transportation of earth however, some easy ones especially those that involved the movement of small amounts of earth in short distances were performed by men who used simple working machines like wheelbarrows (ASCE 35). The work was rather cumbersome even if one operated the bigger machinery, since they had to work for long hours. Most of the work was performed by the prisons of war who were captured by the American and British forces especially those of German and Italian decent. They did not work for free though but they were asked to volunteer and were paid eight cents per day in form of vouchers. Materials Used in the Construction of the Dam The functional requirements of the dam were laid were such as the control of flood, power generation and so on; and this defined the design parameters that were involved or applied to meet the requirements. In addition, a lot of material science had to be incorporated into the science that was applied in the construction to ensure a strong, functional dam that would not fail the test of time and nature. Given that the whole project was based on rolled earth-filled, a lot of earth was required to fill the dam, the dam and the river banks to raise the height as a remedy to solve the flood problem. Cement and Gravel were used especially on the floor of the dam. Sand, gravel and cement were mixed in right proportions and poured on the floor to make it water proof and hold the power generators and the inlet and outlet pipes that were used to set equilibrium (ASCE p46). Concrete was also applied on the sides to help avoid erosion of the sides. If the sides were left like that; earth-rolled, the earth would be eroded and the soil would roll into the dam, raising the depth and destroying the essence of the dam. The side would be eroded and the height would be flattened as well, which would cause the flow of water outside the dam hence result to floods again. Conclusion Dams should be constructed with utmost precision. If anything goes wrong with the finished structure, a lot of damage and loss of life can ensue (ASCE p21). Such structures need utmost accuracy in calculation that concerns the areas of construction, the nature of the river, and the topography of the land. The volume and speed of the river should be calculated and taken into consideration when designing the structure. Under some strict conditions, the pH of the water should be considered just to ensure no corrosion occurs that can cause leakage and damage of the structure (Baldys p42). Structures like dams have been very helpful in the world. The are characterized with outputs and functions that have helped man throughout history. In the far past, dams were constructed for irrigation during the agrarian revolution and they helped with the storage and supply of water to serve the need even in dry seasons. They helped retain or conserve water especially along intermittent or ephemeral rivers that dried up after the rainy seasons. They supported agrarian revolution hence contributed to the development of civilization. Today, dams retain the earlier utility alongside other more benefits. Dams, just like Denison dam, help in the generation of hydroelectric power; which serves human with electricity needed to support the current civilization. They are used as flood regulators along rivers that burst through the banks during the rainy season hence causing a lot of damage to property and even cause death. They also act as water catchment areas that serve humans with water and lead to the development of natural resources like forests and reserves around them. Like Denison dam, dams act like tourists attractions and can be used as recreational facilities such as boat riding and sporting activities. In addition, they also serve as fishing grounds. Works Cited Baldys, S.. Bromide, chloride, and sulfate concentrations and loads at U.S. Geological Survey streamflow-gaging stations 07331600 Red RIver at Denison Dam, 07335500 Red River at Arthur City, and 07336820 Red River near DeKalb, Texas, 2007-09. Reston, Va.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 2010. Print. ASCE..Journal of structural engineering. New York, N.Y.: American Society of Civil Engineers, 1983. Print. Mathews, Kelvin. Red River below Denison Dam: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas : comprehensive basin study.. New Orleans, La.?: Red River Basin Coordinating Committee?], 1968. Print. Ojeda, Oscar. The new American apartment: innovations in residential design and construction : 30 case studies. New York: Whitney Library of Design, 1997. Print. ASCE..Strength design for reinforced-concrete hydraulic structures. New York, N.Y.: ASCE Press, 1993. Print. Read More