# Saluda Dam

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Dam near Lexington, South Carolina

Dam in near Lexington, South Carolina

Lake Murray Dam Looking down the dam from the Irmo side. Interactive map of Lake Murray Dam Official name Dreher Shoals Dam Location Lexington County, near Lexington, South Carolina Coordinates 34°03′12″N 81°13′04″W / 34.0533°N 81.2178°W / 34.0533; -81.2178 Construction began 1927 Opening date 1930 Operator Dominion Energy Dam and spillways Type of dam Embankment, earth-fill with RCC gravity toe Impounds Saluda River Height 200 ft (61 m) Length 7,800 ft (2,400 m) Reservoir Creates Lake Murray Total capacity 2,200,000 acre⋅ft (2.7 km3) Catchment area 2,420 mi2 (6,300 km2) Surface area 50,000 acres (200 km2) Power Station Turbines 5 x vertical Francis turbines (3 @ 32.5 MW, 1 @ 42.3 MW, 1 @ 67.5 MW) Installed capacity 207 MW Annual generation 245,000,000 kWh

The **Saluda Dam**[1] or **Saluda River Dam**,[2] officially the **Dreher Shoals Dam**,[1][3] commonly referred to as the **Lake Murray Dam**,[4][5] is an earthen [embankment dam](/source/Embankment_dam) located approximately 10 miles (15 km) west of [Columbia, South Carolina](/source/Columbia%2C_South_Carolina) on the [Saluda River](/source/Saluda_River). Construction on the dam began in 1927 and was completed in 1930. The purpose of the dam is [flood control](/source/Flood_control), [hydroelectricity](/source/Hydroelectricity), [recreation](/source/Recreation) and water supply. At the time of its completion, the Saluda Dam was the world's largest earthen dam, creating the world's largest man-made lake, [Lake Murray](/source/Lake_Murray_(South_Carolina)). In 2005, construction on a 213 ft (65 m). tall [roller-compacted concrete](/source/Types_of_concrete#Roller-compacted_concrete) (RCC) [dam](/source/Dam) was completed at the toe of the original dam in order to mitigate an earthquake-caused dam failure.

[South Carolina Highway 6](/source/South_Carolina_Highway_6) crosses over the dam and is used as a fast connection between the towns of [Lexington](/source/Lexington%2C_South_Carolina) and [Irmo](/source/Irmo%2C_South_Carolina). The yearly football game between rival [Lexington High School](/source/Lexington_High_School_(South_Carolina)) and [Irmo High School](/source/Irmo_High_School) is often called "The Battle of the Dam".

## Characteristics

The original Saluda Dam is a 7,800 ft (2,400 m) long, 213-foot (65 m)-high earthen-embankment dam.[6] The dam contains a 2,900 ft (880 m) long emergency [spillway](/source/Spillway) controlled by six [steel](/source/Steel) [tainter gates](/source/Tainter_gate). The back-up dam located at the original dam's toe and is a 2,300 ft (700 m) long, 213-foot (65 m) high [roller-compacted concrete](/source/Types_of_concrete#Roller-compacted_concrete) dam. Rock-fill embankment sections also exist on the south and north ends of the back up dam, making a total length of 5,700 ft (1,700 m).

The [hydroelectricity](/source/Hydroelectricity) [power station](/source/Power_station) consists of concrete five vertical [Francis turbines](/source/Francis_turbine); three at 32.5 MW, one at 42.3 MW and another at 67.5 MW. The [power station](/source/Power_station) receives water by means of five 223 ft (68 m). high intake towers and then into [penstocks](/source/Penstock). Water released from the power station moves down a 150 ft (46 m) long tailrace tunnel before being discharged back in the Saluda River.[7]

On the dam, South Carolina Highway 6 splits into two lanes, the northward one going in between the main and backup dams, and the southward road staying on the main dam. There is also a walkway across the dam.

## History

Main article: [Lake Murray (South Carolina) § History](/source/Lake_Murray_(South_Carolina)#History)

### Saluda Dam Remediation Project

Construction of a backup dam immediately next to the Saluda Dam was completed in 2005 by the [SCANA](/source/SCANA) corporation. The construction was first proposed in 1989 but did not begin until 2002. The roller-compacted concrete backup dam was required by the federal government as a mechanism for preventing flooding if an earthquake of similar magnitude to the [1886 Charleston earthquake](/source/1886_Charleston_earthquake) was to occur again in South Carolina. It was projected that large parts of the Columbia, SC metropolitan region (encompassing around 135,000 people) would have been in the flood region if the original dam was damaged.

During construction, workers laid 18,590 cubic yards (14,210 m3) of roller-compacted concrete in one day, setting a North American record. The total fill for the back up dam is 1,300,000 cubic yards (990,000 m3). Because of this and the worker's "...proactive approach to protecting the surrounding communities, and the innovative methods they implemented to achieve that goal...", it received the 2006 [American Society of Civil Engineers](/source/American_Society_of_Civil_Engineers) Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award.[8]

## See also

- [United States portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:United_States)
- [Water portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Water)
- [Renewable energy portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Renewable_energy)

- [Lake Murray](/source/Lake_Murray_(South_Carolina))

- [List of lakes in South Carolina](/source/List_of_lakes_of_South_Carolina)

## External links

- [Scana Insight Article on Dam](http://www.scana.com/NR/rdonlyres/13DB9C94-6A90-417A-AF92-8F95586E3E30/0/SCANAInsightsSummer2005.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20061016114740/http://www.scana.com/NR/rdonlyres/13DB9C94-6A90-417A-AF92-8F95586E3E30/0/SCANAInsightsSummer2005.pdf) 2006-10-16 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)

- [DESCRIPTION OF THE SALUDA HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT](http://www.saludahydrorelicense.com/documents/Attachment3b-ExhibitsAA-1A-2BGtext.pdf)

- ["Mile Long Earthen Dam Is Impervious To Water", May 1931, Popular Mechanics](https://books.google.com/books?id=n-MDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Mechanics+1931+curtiss&pg=PA769)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FWP_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FWP_1-1) Federal Writers Project. *South Carolina: A Guide To The Palmetto State.* Volume 5 of American Guide. Somerset Publishers, Inc., 1941. p. 377. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780403021895](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780403021895)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "Lexington County." *The South Carolina Encyclopedia Guide to the Counties of South Carolina.* Walter Edgar, ed. University of South Carolina Press, 2012. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781611171518](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781611171518)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Cathy Dreher. ["Lake Murray Dam becomes Dreher Shoals Dam."](http://www.thecolumbiastar.com/news/2005-02-11/News/005.html) *Columbia Star.* 11 February 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Lake Facts and Conditions"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140103002050/http://www.lakemurraycountry.com/lake-murray-facts-conditions) at Capital City Lake Murray Country tourism website. Retrieved 20 July 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Sherman Carmichael. *Strange South Carolina.* Arcadia Publishing, 2015. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781625856043](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781625856043)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [*Engineering News-record*](https://books.google.com/books?id=aGhIAQAAIAAJ). McGraw-Hill. 1946.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Federal Register /Vol. 74, No. 55 /Tuesday, March 24, 2009 /Notices"](http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-6287.pdf) (PDF).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["SOUTH CAROLINA'S SALUDA DAM NAMED 2006 OUTSTANDING CIVIL ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT April 26, 2006"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100109181956/http://www.asce.org/pressroom/news/display_press.cfm?uid=2569). Archived from [the original](http://www.asce.org/pressroom/news/display_press.cfm?uid=2569) on January 9, 2010.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Saluda Dam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saluda_Dam) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saluda_Dam?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.