Barre Falls Dam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Barre Falls Dam |
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| Official name | Barre Falls Dam |
|---|---|
| Impounds | Ware River |
| Creates | Barre Falls temporary impoundment area |
| Locale | Hubbardston, Massachusetts |
| Maintained by | Army Corps of Engineers |
| Length | 3,215 ft (979.9 m) |
| Height | 69 ft (21.03 m) |
| Construction began | 1956 |
| Opening date | 1959 |
| Bridge information | |
| Carries | Rueben Walker Road |
| Width | Two lanes |
| Vertical clearance (vehicle height) |
Unrestricted |
| AADT | < 100 vehicles |
| Geographical Data | |
| Coordinates | |
The Barre Falls Dam is located on the Ware River in Hubbardston, Massachusetts, about 0.3 mile (0.48 km) below the junction of the river's east and west branches and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Contents |
[edit] Purpose
Designed and constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, this dam substantially reduces flooding along the Ware, Chicopee, and Connecticut rivers. Construction of the project began in May 1956 with completion in July 1958 at a cost of US$2 million.
[edit] Description
The project consists of an earth fill dam with stone slope protection 885 feet (269.7 m) long and 69 feet (21.03 m) high. There are three dikes totaling 3,215 feet (979.93 m) in length with a maximum elevation of 48 feet (14.64 m). Cut in rock, the spillway comprises a concrete weir 60 ft (18.28 m). in length. The weir's crest elevation is 23 feet (7.0 m) lower than the top of the dam. There is no lake at the Barre Falls Dam. The flood storage area for the project, which is normally empty, stores floodwaters and covers about 1,500 acres in the towns of Barre, Hubbardston, Rutland, and Oakham, Massachusetts. The entire project, including all associated lands, covers 2,407 acres. The Barre Falls Dam can store up to 7.82 billion gallons of water for flood control purposes. This is equivalent to 8.2 inches (20.82 cm) of water covering its drainage area of 55 square miles (142.45 square kilometers).
[edit] Location
The Barre Falls reservoir is located within the Upper Ware River Watershed and is part of the Chicopee River Watershed. Access to the site is available from State Route 62.
[edit] Management
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MDCR) manage and preserve the land for water quality protection. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) manages these water resources, which are part of the public water supply for the metropolitan Boston area. The Corps assists the MWRA by coordinating flows to maximize diversion rates, and the MWRA assists the Corps when requested to divert excess flows to help with flood control. Camping, swimming and wading are not permitted.
[edit] MWRA water system overview
The MWRA and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (MDCR) own and operate the collection, treatment, distribution, and storage facilities that supply drinking water to some forty municipalities in the metropolitan Boston area. This water system design was based upon the purchase and subsequent protection of an entire watershed. This design assures that the water remains as pristine as possible. However, modern regulations require that all supplies of drinking water be chemically treated regardless of the source[1]. Additions to the MWRA water system throughout its history have resulted in redundancies that allow major sections of the water system to be shut down for repair or maintenance.
[edit] Water flow
Water flows from the MWRA's main storage facility, the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts, through the Quabbin Aqueduct to the Wachusett Reservoir in and around Boylston and Clinton [2]. Tributary rivers and streams comprising the Wachusett watershed, a 108 square mile (280 square kilometer) drainage basin, also feed the Wachusett Reservoir. At the eastern end of the Wachusett Reservoir, water enters the Cosgrove Tunnel at the Cosgrove Intake. The Cosgrove Tunnel feeds both the MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel (MWWST) and the Hultman Aqueduct. The MWWST starts from the Carroll Water Treatment Plant in Marlborough. The Hultman branches off at Framingham in two directions. The smaller branch, the Weston Aqueduct, empties into the Weston Reservoir in Weston. The main branch continues to the Norumbega Reservoir, also located in Weston[2].
[edit] Redundancy
Water can be treated with chlorine as it leaves the Wachusett Reservoir in an emergency, and again as it leaves the Norumbega Reservoir. This is to provide for a backup to the new water treatment facility, the John J. Carroll Water Treatment Plant, which started operation on July 27, 2005[3]. This plant is of modular design and provides ozonation for primary disinfection, chloramination for residual disinfection, fluoridation, and pH control.
[edit] John J. Carroll water treatment plant
Located at the town lines of Marlborough, Northborough, and Southborough, Massachusetts, this facility replaces the one used previously only for pH control[4]. It comprises four ozone generators with diffusers and five concrete contact chambers with a volume of 11.3 million gallons (42.7 million liters). The plant has a capacity of 275 million gallons (1.04 billion liters) per day, on an average day or 405 million gallons (1.53 billion liters) per day, at peak level. It cost US$340 million[3].
[edit] Electrical generation
The system includes three hydropower stations, with a total capacity of 8 MW[5]. Water released to the Swift River flows through the turbines at Winsor Station below the Winsor Dam. Water transferred from Quabbin to Wachusett can pass either through the turbines at Oakdale or through bypass pipes when flow requirements exceed turbine ratings. Water released from Wachusett into the Cosgrove Tunnel passes through the Cosgrove turbines[2][3].
MWRA power generation
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The Quabbin Aqueduct connects the two reservoirs, and relies upon gravity to accommodate the three separate operational needs. First, diversion of water from the Ware River into the Quabbin Reservoir uses this aqueduct. Second, water transfer from the Quabbin Reservoir to the Wachusett Reservoir, through a hydropower station or a bypass pipe, uses it as well. The bypass valves are non-regulating valves, and when opened, only the head in the Quabbin Reservoir and the physical characteristics of the aqueduct govern the flow. Because the turbines are flow limited, the bypass mechanism permits transfer rates nearly twice as high as are possible through the turbines. Operationally, the single aqueduct fulfills three purposes, but only one operational mode is possible at a given time [6].
[edit] MWRA references
- ^ Safe Drinking Water Act. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ a b c MWRA water system. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ a b c Water system history. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ John J. Carroll water treatment plant. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
- ^ Electrical power generating plants. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
- ^ Water system configuration. Retrieved on 2006-12-01.
[edit] References
- Barre Falls Dam specifications
- MWRA Wachusett Reservoir History
- Mass Central Rail Trail. Rails To Trails conversion on the Central Mass line, which was rerouted during dam construction
- Court order and statement of facts about MWRA facilities
