Shasta dam with Shasta Lake behind it and Mt. Shasta in the distance

Shasta Dam under construction. California, June 1942.

Shasta Dam is a curved gravity concrete dam (National ID No. CA10186) on the Sacramento River above Redding, California built between 1938 and 1945. Like another curved gravity dam (Hoover Dam), is was a continuous pour concrete project, and in its day, ranked as one of the great civil engineering feats of the world. The dam is 602 ft (183 m) high and 3,460 ft (1,055 m) long, with a base width or thickness of 543 ft (165.5 m). The reservoir created behind Shasta Dam is known as Shasta Lake and is a popular recreational boating area. Download high resolution version (850x462, 88 KB)Shasta Dam (Northern California) seen from the new lookout; showing Shasta Lake and Mt. ... Download high resolution version (850x462, 88 KB)Shasta Dam (Northern California) seen from the new lookout; showing Shasta Lake and Mt. ... Mount Shasta, a 14,179-foot (4,322 m) stratovolcano, is the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range and the second-highest point in California (after Mount Whitney). ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (3500x2607, 1256 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Shasta Dam User:Davepape/Images ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (3500x2607, 1256 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Shasta Dam User:Davepape/Images ... Scrivener Dam, in Canberra, Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ... A spring at the Sacramento River headwater The Sacramento River is the longest river in the state of California. ... Redding from space, April 1994 Redding is the county seat of Shasta County, California, USA, located on the Sacramento River and on Interstate 5 south of Shasta Lake. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Hoover Dam from the air Hoover Dam Hoover Dam ( ), also known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete gravity-arch dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. ... Shasta Lake Shasta Lake is a reservoir created by the building of Shasta Dam in California, USA. Shasta Lake is the largest lake in California with a capacity of 4,552,000 acre-feet (5. ... Boating on the Royal Military Canal at Hythe. ...

Shasta Dam is part of the Shasta and Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project initially started with funds provided by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 (49 Stat. 115), authorized in December 1935; the Shasta and Trinity Division was authorized in August 1955. The original site, named Kennett after a nearby railroad station, was selected by the state of California as part of its 1933 Central Valley Project. However, unable to finance the construction of the project, the state turned to the Federal government for aid. The purpose of the Central Valley Project is that of water conservation and Shasta Dam was constructed primarily to protect the California Central Valley from water shortages and floods. The dam now provides flood control, irrigation and domestic water supply, electrical power generation, opportunities for recreation, and water quality enhancement. The Central Valley Project (CVP) is a federal water project undertaken by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1935 as a long-term plan to use water in Californias Central Valley. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The California Central Valley Part of the Valley as seen from overhead A typical Central Valley scene at ground level The California Central Valley is a large, flat valley that dominates the central portion of the U.S. state of California. ...

There is a hydroelectric power plant at the base of the dam. The plant has a head of 100 m (330 ft) and its five Francis turbines have a combined capacity of 610 MW. It is the fourth largest hydroelectric plant in California, and the largest non-pumped-storage plant. Water to drive the turbines flows through 5 penstocks 15 feet in diameter, each large enough to permit passage to a school bus. To drive each turbine at full–generator load 85 tons of water are needed per second. Power is generated at 13,800 volts and is stepped up to 230 kV for transmission to Californian consumers. Some of these 230 kV wires connect to Path 66, which is part of a massive North-South power transmission project interlinking power grids on the West Coast. Hydroelectric dam diagram The waters of Llyn Stwlan, the upper reservoir of the Ffestiniog Pumped-Storage Scheme in north Wales, can just be glimpsed on the right. ... In fluid dynamics, head refers to the constant right hand side in the incompressible steady version of Bernoullis equation. ... Francis turbine (courtsey Voith-Siemens). ... Diagram of the TVA pumped storage facility at Racoon Mountain Pumped storage hydroelectricity is a method of storing and producing electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. ... The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential and voltage (derived from the ampere and watt). ... Path 66 is the name of a 500 kV power line that was built by Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) in the early 1990s and completed (energized) in 1993. ... It has been suggested that Electrical power grid be merged into this article or section. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ...

In September 2004, legislation was passed to research the raising of the Shasta Dam. Supporters such as Senator Dianne Feinstein feel that the need for water is urgent. Opponents such as the Winnemem Wintu tribe feel that this is a dangerous plan for the environment and that other water conservation techniques can be better researched. Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is a Democratic U.S. Senator from California, an office she has held since 1992. ... The Winnemem Wintu (middle river people or middle water people) are a band of the Native American Wintu tribe originally located along the lower McCloud River, above Shasta Dam near Redding, California. ...

The Volcano

If one drives over the road built on the damface, one can also see Mount Shasta, a dormant stratovolcano. The state of California (with some Federal help) has seismically retrofitted the dam with a stainless-steel armature on the lake-side. Should Shasta Volcano come alive, and in the worst possible case, the state would have to flood and evacuate the Sacramento Valley in a planned and responsible manner. Mount Shasta, a 14,179-foot (4,322 m)[1] stratovolcano, is the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range and the fifth highest peak in California. ... Stratovolcano Mount St. ... The 630 foot high, stainless-clad (type 304) Gateway Arch defines St. ... Armature is usually the rotating part of an electric motor or dynamo. ... The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta. ...

Trivia

• Shasta Dam is higher than the Washington Monument and its spillway is three times the height of Niagara Falls.
• It contains enough concrete to build a sidewalk 3 feet wide, 4 inches thick around the world at the Equator.
• Shasta’s hydroelectric power plant, located just below the dam, is one of the biggest in California.

External links

• Shasta Dam, Bureau or Reclamation, U.S. Dept. of the Interior
• Shasta Dam Virtual tour

Coordinates: 40°43′N 122°27′W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...