Fact Sheet for Flaming Gorge Dam

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FACT SHEET FOR FLAMING GORGE DAM What is Flaming Gorge Dam? One of the four primary storage units au:thoriz~d for construction as part o'£ the Colorado River Storage Project. The others are Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River in Arizona, the largest storage unit; Navajo Dam on the San Juan River in New l-!exico; and the Cureca.nti Unit of 3 or 4 dams on the Gunnison Riw~r ill Colorado, now in the final stages o:f detailed investigations. Loco.tion. The Flaming Gorge Dam site is located on the Green River in northea~tern Dtah about 5 miles south o:f the Utah-Wyoming State line. It is about half way between the cities of Green River, Wyoming, on the north and Vernal, utah, on the south. Height. The concrete arch of the Flaming Gorge Dam will stand 450 feet above the level of the Green River and about 500 feet above bedrock. Only five dams in the United States {including Glen Canyon Dam) would be higher. Width. The width between the canyon walls at the crest height of the dam is 900 feet. Volume. The volume of concrete in the Flaming Gorge Dam will be nearly l million cubic yards. Reservoir. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir will be long and rather narrow, but water will be backed 91 miles upstream to within 3 or 4 miles of the city of Green River, Wyoming. The total storage capacity of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir will be 4,4oo,ooo acre-feet, of which about 4 million acre-feet is usable storage. The water surface of the reservoir will be 68 square miles when filled. Powerpla.nt. The powerplant would be located at the downstream base of the dam. Three generating units are planned with total installed capacity of 85,000 kilowatts. Bedrock at Flaming Gorge. The tough, reddish, modified sandstones of the thick Uinta formation constitutes the bedrock at the Flaming Gorge Dam site. The bright purplish-red color of these bedrock ha·s given the site its name. Diversion of River. Diversion of The Green River will be diverted through a single tunnel during construction. However, only one diversion tunnel with a capacity of 20,000 cubic feet per second will be needed. Construction of this tunnel will be started soon. Construction Work. Construction at Flaming Gorge Dam will begin next Spring with work on the diversion tunnel. At the present time, the core-drilling crews, who are the first on any new dam site, a.re working at Flaming Gorge. In the meantime, invitations for bids will be issued next month for the construction of an access road with a temporary bridge over the Green River from Manila. Bids for the prime contract for Flaming Gorge Dam will be invited about a year from now (October 1957). Construction of the dam will require about 6 years. Cost of Flaming Gorge Dam. The total. estimated cost of the Flaming Gorge Dam and related works which comprise the storage unit is $82,942,000. This entire cost and applicable interest will be repaid within 50 years of completion of construction. 2 .

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