Lake Murray, north of Columbia, South Carolina, is one of the oldest lakes in South Carolina. In 1930, a was completed. It was once the largest earthen dam in the world. There are three names associated with this dam, Dam, Lake Murray Dam and the Dreher Shoals Dam. In 1928, the dam was officially named Dreher Shoals Dam, by a Concurrent Resolution of the South Carolina General Assembly. The other names were used by locals in conversation. The Dreher name was common in the area at the time of the building of the dam and to honor the owners of the land, the name was applied to the dam. The earthen dam and the newer dam completed in 2005, is called the Dreher Shoals Dam, from water fed by the Saluda River that feeds Lake Murray. The lake was named after William Murray, who was the chief engineer who oversaw the building of the earthen dam in 1930. The project was started in 1927. Clips of the building can be seen on the source, below. The Saluda River enters South Carolina at the border from North Carolina. The water eventually joins two other rivers and dumps into the Atlantic Ocean. The dam supplies water to the City of Columbia and serves as a hydroelectric power source. The building of the dam in 1927 was by Lexington Water Power, predecessor to SCE&G (South Carolina Electric & Gas) It required the relocation of 5,000 people, many churches and schools and over 2,000 graves. The dam is 1.5 miles wide and 208 feet high. The lake itself involves 50,000 acres and a 500‐mile shoreline. A second dam was completed in 2005 to meet modern seismic safety requirements because the original was classified as a high hazard dam. If there was a breach, it was estimated, at that time, 120,000 people would be in danger. The Backup Dam, as its referred to below, is the original dam, toward Columbia. Modern engineering techniques required more understanding of seepage and settlement in the building of the Backup Dam. The Backup Dam by design is both a dry and wet dam to impound water if the older dam fails. In 1886, the Charleston Earthquake took place and the seismic data of that event was factored into the building of the new dam. There is a unique history of the building of the 1930 Saluda Dam, in the paper entitled, “Saluda Dam, Then and Now.” The cost of the Saluda Dam was $20 million ($279 million by 2018 value calculation). Prior to the completion of the Backup Dam, the estimated cost was $275 million, but millions were also spent on widening the road on the earthen dam and other additions. Sources: LAKE MURRY RESERVOIR INFO: http://www.canarysystems.com/papers/SaludaDam_ThenandNow.pdf, http://rizzoassoc.com/cms/images/stories/site/published_papers/saluda_dam_remediation_rcc_mix_design_program.pdf, http://www.lakemurray.com/Lake_Murray_History.aspx, http://boozer.net/boozerfamily/1850saluda.htm, https://www.mnn.com/earth‐matters/wilderness‐resources/stories/lake‐murray‐lost‐towns‐south‐carolina, https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=20&year=1927, http://southcarolinalakes.info/largest‐lakes/lake‐murray.html, http://www.thecolumbiastar.com/news/2005‐02‐11/News/005.html and http://www.lakemurray‐sc.com/drehershoalsdam.html. An interesting sidebar of Lake Murray’s history is its relationship to the Doolittle Raiders. Lieutenant Colonel James “Jimmy” Doolittle’s raid into the Japanese homeland, a first, on April 18, 1942, became a national morale booster. His 17th Bomb Group was based in Lexington County Army Air base near Columbia, South Carolina. As mentioned in , “On April 4, 1943, a B‐25 took off from the Air Base outside Columbia on a skip‐bombing mission over the lake’s island targets. The crew ditched in the water about two miles west of Dreher Shoals Dam …a depth of 150 feet—too deep for the U.S. Army Air Forces to salvage. It was written off as a loss…In 2005, the plane was brought to the surface by a team of divers, aviation historians and explorers…The Doolittle Island is also known as Lunch Island or Bomb Island.” According to another source, the crew died. JIMMY DOOLITTLE INFO: http://www.lakemurray‐sc.com/lakemurrayb25.html, https://www.sciway.net/sc‐photos/lexington‐county/bomb‐ island.html, http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article50119415.html, http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article145064429.html, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM_1IL‐dD3I, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vrider97/sets/72157602415585919/, and http://localhistory.richlandlibrary.com/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16817coll1. This photo program shares some of the sites around the Dreher Shoals Dam at Lake Murray.

The existing dam’s heighth is 372 ft., the normal pool elevation is 356.5 ft.NAVD. The elevation at the base ranges from 210 ft. to 190 ft. The Backup Dam heighth is 372 ft., the elevation at the base is 165 ft. NAVD: Regulatory floodplains are defined by the elevation of the base flood in relation to the elevation of the ground. Base flood elevations are used to determine the required elevation of new buildings in the floodplain. Floodplain management will not succeed without accurate measurements of flood elevations, ground elevations and building elevations.

The following photos were taken by Roger A. Stigers, backup dam on the right and the existing dam on the left.

acuri.net John R. Vincenti Lake Murray Dreher Shoals Dam‐‐Saluda River Dam and Backup Dam, South Carolina