Big Bend Dam

Big Bend Dam is a major rolled earth dam along the Missouri River in central South Dakota.

The dam, 95 feet (29 m) high and 10,570 feet (3.22 km) in length, was constructed as part of the Pick-Sloan Plan for Missouri watershed development authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944. Construction began in 1959 and the embankment was completed in July 1963. Power generation began at the facility in 1964 and the entire complex was completed in 1966 at a total cost of $107 million. The hydroelectric plant generates 493,300 kilowatts of electricity and meets peak-hour demand for power within the Missouri River Basin.

Located near Fort Thompson, South Dakota, just south of a major bend in the Missouri River (from which the dam takes its name), Big Bend Dam creates Lake Sharpe, named after South Dakota Governor Merrill Q. Sharpe. The lake extends for 80 miles (130 km) up the course of the Missouri River past Pierre to Oahe Dam, another major power-generating and flood control embankment. Lake Sharpe covers a total of 56,884 acres (230.20 km²) and drains an area just under 250,000 mi² (650,000 km²).

A monument at Big Bend Dam dedicated in 2002, the Spirit of the Circle Monument, honors the more than 1,300 people who died over a three-year period in the 1860s at the Crow Creek Reservation near the present site of the dam. [cite news| url=http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/archive/28217624.html|title=Dakota sacrifice honored|last=Melmer|first=David |date=June 19, 2002|work=Indian Country Today|accessdate=2008-09-27]

References

*cite news|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F13F834591A7A93C2AA178ED85F448685F9| title=6th Missouri River Dam Begun; Last in Flood-Control Network; Big Bend Project Scheduled for Completion in 1963 -- Johnson Urges Others. 6th Dam Started on Missouri River|last=Janson|first=Donald|work=The New York Times|date=May 30, 1960|accessdate=2008-09-27

External links

* [http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/Lake_Proj/bigbend/welcome.html Big Bend Project Homepage] - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
*Geolinks-US-cityscale|44.049473|-99.448586