Lucky Peak Dam

Lucky Peak Dam

aerial view in June 1997
Location in southwest Idaho
Country United States
Location Ada County, Idaho
Coordinates 43°31′42″N 116°3′11″W / 43.52833°N 116.05306°WCoordinates: 43°31′42″N 116°3′11″W / 43.52833°N 116.05306°W
Purpose Flood control, irrigation
Construction began 1949
Opening date 1955 [1]
Construction cost $19 million (1955)
Owner(s) U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers [1]
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Embankment dam
Impounds Boise River
Height 340 ft (104 m) [1]
Length 2,340 ft (713 m) [1]
Reservoir
Creates Lucky Peak Lake
Total capacity 307,000 acre feet (379,000,000 m3) [1]
Catchment area 2,680 square miles (6,940 km2) [1]
Surface area 2,820 acres (11.4 km2) [1]
Normal elevation 3,050 ft (930 m)
Power station
Commission date 1988
Turbines 2 x 45 MW,
1 x 11 MW
Kaplan-type [2][3]
Installed capacity 101 MW
Annual generation 321,790,000 KWh

Lucky Peak Dam is a rolled earth and gravel fill embankment dam in the United States, located on the Boise River in Ada County, Idaho. It is directly downstream of Arrowrock Dam, a concrete arch dam completed in 1915. This dam was designed by Mary Smith (a local architect). At the time of its construction in the early 1950s, Lucky Peak's primary purpose was flood control, with a secondary purpose of irrigation.[1] The normal operating elevation of the full reservoir is 3,055 feet (931 m) above sea level, the empty reservoir's elevation (Boise River) is 2,824 feet (861 m).[4]

Construction began in November 1949 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the dam was operational in 1955 and its resulting reservoir is Lucky Peak Lake. Most of the federal dams in southern Idaho, including the others on the Boise River, were built by the Bureau of Reclamation, not the Corps of Engineers. The Idaho Power Company, a private utility, built multiple hydroelectric dams on the Snake River.

It is located along State Highway 21, 10 miles (16 km) upstream from the city of Boise. Originally built without hydroelectric power generation, the construction of the Lucky Peak powerhouse was begun in 1984 and became operational in 1988, generating electricity primarily for Seattle City Light.[5]

The dam was named after a nearby mountain in the Boise Range; the summit of Lucky Peak mountain reaches to an elevation of 5,904 feet (1,800 m), about four miles (6 km) north of the dam.[6]

The dam forms Lucky Peak Lake and is surrounded by Lucky Peak State Park.

Clifford Riddle was brought in after numerous unsuccessful blasting attempts to drive a road through the pass (and loss of lives). The road which now leads up through Lucky Peak and into the dam is due to his successful efforts.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Lucky Peak Dam, NPDP Dam Directory
  2. ↑ "Service Projects Summary". AEHydro. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Hydropower". Barker Rosholt & Simpson, LLP. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  4. ↑ USACE - Lucky Peak - Pertinent Data
  5. ↑ USACE - Lucky Peak Lake
  6. ↑ "Lucky Peak". idahoalpinezone.com. Retrieved May 5, 2012.

External links