New Croton Dam

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The New Croton Dam stretches across the Croton River in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. It was begun on September 20, 1892, and completed on January 17, 1906.

This masonry dam is 266 feet (81 m) broad at its base and 297 feet (91 m) high from base to crest. Its foundation extends 130 feet (39.6 m) below the bed of the river and the dam contains 850,000 cubic yards (650,000 m³) of masonry. This dam, which impounds 30 billion US gallons (110 million m³) of water, is the second largest hand hewn masonry structure in the world after the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

Perhaps one of the greatest features of the dam is the spillway. The dam itself stretches across the valley; however, the spillway, while half man-made, utilizes the natural rocks of the north side to compelete it. It creates a spectacular waterfall that is more elegant then a man made spillway, and it has a popular park at its base. It is one of the most well known dams of Westchester County and a marvel of dam building.

Contents 1 New Croton Dam 2 The Work 3 The Aqueduct trail 4 Facts on the Dam

[edit] New Croton Dam

The First Dam was created in 1841 and while under construction was washed away. The heavy rain and snow that the small town of Croton received that year actually caused the Dam to slide downward. Buildings, bridges and other structures were damaged and had to be rebuilt as well. Many people and workers came up with the idea of building a new dam in the late 1800’s. The approximate date that started all of this hard work was as early as 1880 when the Aqueduct wanted to reserve land to create a Dam. It taken a couple of years to put the plans in final order. About seven thousand acres of land were needed to make this structure. There are three branches to the Croton Dam and how it holds its reservoir. The far side which is where the current of the water moves, the shore line, and where the dam is placed. Twenty square miles were needed by the city to build the new Croton Dam. The twenty miles included a school, one dwelling, barns, stores, mills, four towns, farms were destroyed and taken over for the dam. Since there was a lack of technology in the 1800’s many people were hired to help with the Dam. Plans were designed to withstand weather disasters. Every inch of this beautiful structure is hand made. One thing that was going to a problem for the residents was the cemeteries that surrounded around the area. Over fifteen hundred bodies had to be taken out, so that they could build and put in the aqueduct system. Many people were appalled by this because family member’s memorials were being destroyed. Some residents president law suits, and there was a lot of confusion for payment claims. Then on August 26 after years of arguing, the Croton Dam began its journey to become one of the most beautiful and well known Structures In the world. The structure was a working process that took five years to build. The man who designed the Dam was John B. Goldsborough, he was a civil engineer (see website). He hired over a thousand workers to do the job. A lot of the workers were in the range of about 17-21 years of age. The younger workers were used because they could withstand the long hours and heat of the scorching summers. A small break was given to some of the workers everyday. The workers consisted of Irish and Italian workers who couldn’t get jobs very easily. They were stone masons who had worked on the previous structure of the Dam. Many of the workers were from Southern Italy because they had worked on structures, and had experience with Designs. They all arrived in Boats on Staten Island carrying with them only a small suit case and very little or no money. The first pay they had received was about twenty five dollars and it was handed to them when they arrived off the boat. They left behind families and there past to start there new life in America. Many of the workers still live in Croton Today, Most are in there upper 70’s. The dam cost over 10 million dollars to rebuild. (Today it holds over 21,000,000,000,000 gallons of water). [1]

[edit] The Work

The work actually began on September 16, 1892. They had to excavate the 130 feet deep. To do that the pit had to be dug out about 130 feet. A canal was put in which was about 1000 feet, and 200 feet wide. The far side of the hill was very rocky so the workers had to cut and blast out a lot of Sedimentary rock. “The River was confined by means of a masonry wall of 600 feet along the south bank.”(Village of croton). Each day a new piece of the property was dug up to make sure that everything would go as planned. The trench was made as strong as possible so that it wouldn’t break while in the long days working on it. The Dam was built at the downstream side, and the masonry was built on the solid rock on the far side. All together the dam took about 14 years to finish which was longer than expected. The last stone was placed in January, which was a way to celebrate the new year of 1906. IT is approximately 301 feet high and has been added on too ever since. In 2006 the Dam is still being rebuilt today. About 4 years ago there was a problem with the bridge that connects to some of the main roads in back of the Dam. The bridge went under construction to make sure that it was still safe to go over it. There are two parts where you can see the Dam really well. The Croton Dam Park which is located on Route 129, off of Route 9A north which follows up through Yorktown heights. Even today there are many malfunctions involved in building works of art, structures, etc. The Dam has been a well known structure that has held on very well and has had little or no accidents involved with it. Due to the recent acts following September 11th for security and safety reasons Westchester County has decided to close down the bridge which is located on top of the Dam. The New York City Department of Environmental protection agency(office of Environmental planning and assessment) has had control over this situation since September 11th. Many people use the bridge to enjoy the fantastic view that has brought site seeing to the small town of Croton. The only people that are permitted to use the bridge are emergency vehicles and pedestrians. Today the bridge has been opened up for pedestrians to use to go on walks or to bike ride over to tea town. Tea town is a wildlife place where camps and many other activities are held. They host a lot of wild life animals and help with any that become injured. There are many trails over there and the old Croton Aqueduct is one of the places that it goes through. The bridge has had no malfunctions in the sense of breaking it’s just a precaution for the town and the people that live in it. The New Croton Dam is a very important part of New York City Water supply.

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[edit] The Aqueduct trail

Another way that the Croton Dam is so well known and has become so famous is the common spot also known as the Old Aqueduct trail. The trail is located on top of the old Croton Aqueduct that was built in the 1800’s. The old system used to carry drinking water all the way to New York City. The Dam in the first place was built for New York City’s needs for a source and a system for drinking water. It begins at the Bronx and works its way all the way up to Croton. The trail is long, and is surrounded by lots of forest and animal life. Many a times in the fall and summers there are guided tours that show some of the older structures in that area. Many people use the aqueduct to bike, ride, or walk. It is a peaceful place where a lot of families spend time together. The main part of the Dam is on the bottom, and it has a small bridge that connects to the park where most of flow of the Dam is underneath. The part on top actually consists of a small bridge that was built to connect one side to a lot of other roads in Croton. The bridge was thought to have a small crack in it, so it has been close for many years. The beginning of summer 2006 is when the town opened it up to the public again. Cars are not allowed to return until they have finished every piece. The work of the aqueduct trail was conducted by Irish laborers. The First Dam was almost complete in 1841, when a nasty snowstorm struck the town of Croton causing the Dam to collapse. The aqueduct was then made and finished in 1842, and held about 100 million gallons of water a day. The aqueduct ran for many years until it had some malfunctions in the middle of the 1900’s. It is a source that was called the Catskill Aqueduct system, and it was designed to be a similar model to that. The new trail and system that was built was created in 1955 and has passed through many different areas. Westchester County has published maps of the route of the trail to help people find out where there going and what way of the trail they are going to take. It’s a 47 mile walk mainly called the river walk. It goes between places such as The Croton Dam, Croton Point , Kingsland park, camp smith, Ossining, Yonkers, Sleepy hollow, and other different towns located in that area. The trail consists of grass, a dirt path, gravel, and cinder (pyroclast material, Intrusive Igneous rock from other time periods). Many of the areas around the Croton hold part of the beautiful trail that many people enjoy the scenic view of. http://www.roadtripamerica.com/places/croton.htm

[edit] Facts on the Dam

The View from the bridge is magnificent. You can see miles and even can see some of the town that built this structure. The Dam actually celebrated its one hundredth birthday in January of 2006. The Dam is truly a spectacular piece of art work that is a century old. The Dam is also featured in some movies. In the 1900’s there was actual movie called Strike at The Croton Dam. It was a black and white silent film. It was a movie based on arrest of some of the ringleaders at the Dam. Another movie that had a scene at the Dam was the 1996 featured Film Daylight. Well known Actors that were featured in this movie included Sylvester Stallone, Viggo Mortensen, and Amy Brenneman. It was a movie about a disaster in New York City tunnel as explosions collapse both. One hero tries to get all the survivors to safety before time runs out. So many people and residents work so hard to keep the dam intact.