Parker Dam, Spanning Colorado River between AZ & CA, Parker

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-54. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Immediately south of the confluence of the Bill Williams and Colorado rivers between the States of California and Arizona, about 13 miles northwest of Parker, La Paz County, Arizona and about 18 miles southeast of Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Yuma County, Arizona The dam is also located in the vicinity of the community of Parker Dam, San Bernardino County, California U.S.G.S. Gene Wash, CA-AZ Quadrangle 7.5 Minute PR Parker Dam: 1 (NAD27) Parker Dam Power Plant: 1 (NAD27) Parker Dam Switchyard: 1 (NAD27) Parker Dam Upper Switchyard: 1 (NAD27) Parker Dam Lower Switchyard: 1 (NAD27) Parker Dam switchyard: 11.

(NAD 27) Parker Dam General Utility Building (Control Building): 1 (NAD27) Date(s) of Construction: Engineer/Builder: Bureau of Reclamation engineers designed the dam, power plant, electrical switchyards, transmission lines, and the General Utility Building (Control Building). Reclamation contracted with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for the cooperative construction and operation of Parker Dam. Parker Dam was built by the Shea company, one of the six companies that combined to form Six Companies, Inc., which was responsible for the construction of Hoover Dam.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-54. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Parker Dam was constructed from to as the second impoundment of the lower Colorado River by the Bureau of Reclamation. Together with Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, 155 miles upstream and 88 miles upstream, respectively, Parker Dam provides flood protection, hydroelectric generation, and water storage for agricultural, industrial, and domestic use in the Southwest. Storage of water behind the dam and the regulation of water flow in the Colorado River below the dam allow the United States to comply with the Mexican Treaty of particularly annual delivery of 1.5 million acre-feet of water to Mexico.

Electricity produced at Parker Dam contributed to the post-WWII development of Arizona and southern California, and these facilities are directly associated with the important historical event or theme of federal containment and water power development of the Colorado River. Parker Dam is considered the "deepest dam" in the world with a structural height of 320 feet, of which only eighty-five feet extend above the river bed. Report Prepared By: Jonathan Held TEC Inc. Golden, Colorado Date: June PARKERDAM HAER No. AZ-54 Page2 I.

Description The Parker Dam Complex consists of Parker Dam and associated fore bay structure, spillway, power plant, and control buildings; 230-kilovolt two and electrical switchyards; transformer circuit transmission lines and control ducts between the power plant and the switchyards; a maintenance building, warehouse , water tank, and radio tower and building; a river-level gauging station and a cableway; transmission lines originating or terminating in the switchyards; and control buildings. The dam is at the northern end of the complex, and associated structures extend about one-half mile downstream or south of the dam on the California side of the Colorado River. Parker Dam was the second dam constructed by the U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation on the lower Colorado River to provide flood control, hydroelectric generation, and water storage for irrigation, municipal uses, and other uses. Parker Dam is a concrete arch structure commonly called the deepest dam in the world. Seventy-three percent of the dam's structural height of320 feet is below the original river bed; only about 85 feet of the dam's structural height is visible (its superstructure rises another 62 feet above the roadway across the top of the darn). Parker Darn has a volume of cubic yards of concrete. At its crest, the dam is 856 feet long. Water control is provided by five 50-ft-square gates (dataweb.usbr.gov). Lake Havasu backs up behind the dam for 45 miles and covers more than acres (32 square miles).

The reservoir's total capacity is acre-feet. About half of the power generated at Parker Dam is reserved by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to pump Colorado River water along the Colorado River Aqueduct. The remaining power is marketed to users in California, Nevada and Arizona by the Western Area Power Administration. By contract, the use of active storage in Lake Havasu to generate power is limited to the elevation between 440 to 450 feet (dataweb.usbr.gov). The Parker Power Plant is immediately downstream from the dam on the California side of the river. The plant includes a penstock gate structure, four penstock tunnels, and a power plant building housing four hydroelectric generating units.

Each of the four tunnels and penstocks conveying river water from the forebay at the left end of the dam to the turbines is 22 feet in diameter and has a water capacity of cubic feet per second. The plant's nameplate capacity is 120 megawatts (Linenberger The Parker Dam Switchyards consist of the yard, the upper and lower yards, and a switchyard. The switchyard complex is located to the southwest of the Parker Dam power plant. Each of the switchyards includes steel bus structures and equipment supports on concrete foundations, electrical equipment including transformers and switches, control/utility buildings, and surrounding fences (ACRE Hoover, Davis, and Parker Power Plants are tied together through transmission systems owned and operated by Western Area Power Administration.

The transmission system includes 32 substations and transmission lines that have a total length exceeding miles. The high-voltage switchyards near the Parker and Davis power plants are the takeoff points for a system of transmission lines and substations that tie together the Hoover, Davis, and Parker Power plants, and interconnect to load centers in central and southern Arizona, southern Nevada, and southern California. The Parker-Davis Project provides firm electric service to 26 municipalities, cooperatives, federal and state agencies and irrigation dis.tricts in Nevada, Arizona and California. The electrical integration of and interconnection of these Bureau of Reclamation power plants provides maximum generation of power with efficient use of water resources.

The highly developed agricultural base and complex industrialization of the Southwest benefit greatly from Colorado River hydroelectric energy (dataweb.usbr.gov). II. Authorization and Construction Population growth of municipalities within the greater Los Angeles area in California created a domestic water demand in excess of the supply from the local streams and the more remote Owens Valley source. The construction PARKER DAM HAER No. AZ-54 Page 3 of Hoover Dam, with its resulting river regulation and power generation, made feasible the construction of a dam on the lower Colorado River that could provide water for multiple uses in Southern California.

On February 10, the Bureau of Reclamation contracted with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for the cooperative construction and operation of Parker Dam. Based on provisions in this contract, MWD advanced funds for construction of the dam, and, on August 25, Reclamation awarded the contract for construction of Parker Dam to Six Companies, Inc., the company responsible for the concurrent construction of Hoover Dam.

Six Companies began work on the Parker Dam Camp and a contractor's bridge across the Colorado River on October 1, (Linenberger A nearly year-long delay in construction activity due to opposition by the State of Arizona over allocation of water resources to California was surmounted by authorization for the Parker Dam Power Project by the Rivers and Harbors Act of August (Linenberger In March Six Companies, Inc. sublet the contract for construction of Parker Dam and it's appurtenant works to Shea Company, one of the original Six Companies. By the end of April Diversion Tunnels No. 1 and No. 2 had been holed through and by the end of May, when operations were suspended due to hot weather, the tunnels had been lined with concrete.

Work on the upper cofferdam began in November of that year (Linenberger On July 29, the first bucket of concrete was place in the dam. Work began in November on the substructure of the Power Plant. The following spring, Diversion Tunnel No. 1 was plugged as preparations began for the end of the Colorado River diversion around the dam site. By mid-June the cofferdams were removed and on July 1, the Colorado River returned to the river bed, followed two weeks later by the closure of Diversion Tunnel No. 2. By this time, the forebay trashrack was in place, the last load of concrete was placed at the dam on July 26.

Parker Dam was substantially completed in September Water began filling the reservoir by the middle of October, and formal dedication ceremonies were held on November 19, The reservoir was named Lake Havasu in January meaning "blue water" in the Mohave Indian language (Linenberger Concurrently with construction of the Parker Dam Power Plant, which was designated complete for commercial operation in May transmission lines and substations of the project were constructed and put into operation. A temporary switchyard was installed in to serve a transmission line from the dam to Phoenix and Tucson (Parker-Phoenix No.

1) to help relieve a severe power shortage caused by low water in the Salt River system (this line was initially operated at with power provided by Hoover Dam through a tie-in at the Gene Substation west of Parker Dam). A second line from Parker Dam southward to the Gila Substation (Parker- Gila No. l or Parker-Blaisdell line) was completed in and energized in to provide power to the Gila Irrigation Project in southwestern Arizona, and to interconnect with a private hydroelectric system on the All- American Canal in California. Both of these lines contributed marginally to war effort during WWII. In the lower part of the permanent switchyard was completed with steel bus structures, and blasting for .the upper section began.

In the Pacific Electric Manufacturing Corporation furnished the equipment for the Indian Service Switchyard (69 which was installed by government forces. In the same year government forces began excavation for the permanent switchyard. In with the war over in Europe and Asia, the federal government resumed its domestic public works program. During the war, the United States had signed and ratified the Mexican Water Treaty, guaranteeing 1.5 million acre- feet of Colorado River water be delivered to Mexico annually.

Water storage behind Parker Dam would allow the treaty provisions to be met (Linenberger The Switchyard at Parker Dam was constructed between and Excavation for the switch yard commenced in July During the year, cubic yards of common material was excavated, an estimated 90% ofrock excavation was completed and cubic yards of concrete was placed in footings (Parker Dam Project PARKER DAM HAER No. AZ-54 Page 4 History, USBR Specifications No.

Steel Structures and Switchyards, Parker Power Plant and Parker-Gene Transmission Line, The cut tunnels, or duct lines, which connect the switchyard and Control Building with the power plant, were begun during the fall of (Parker Dam Project History, Construction on the yard's Control Building began in November (Parker DamProject History The first interconnection was completed in (Parker Dam Project History, The three 30,000-kva, to transformers furnished by Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company for installation in the Switchyard were placed in operation June 7, (Parker Dam Project History, By the switchyard, including the Control Building, was considered 99% complete (Parker Dam Project History III.

Post-Construction History In the Parker Dam Power Project and the Davis Dam Project were consolidated to form the Parker-Davis Project The major works include Davis (originally named "Bullhead") Dam and Powerplant, Parker Dam and Powerplant, a high-voltage transmission system, and substations which sectionalize the long transmission lines ( dataweb.usbr.gov). To control the flash floods on the Bill Williams River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers closed the gates at Alamo Dam on March 28, Since then, Parker Dam and Lake Havasu have been used for flood control regulation when large quantities of water are released to vacate the flood control pool behind Alamo Dam.

Lake Havasu has a contractual operating range between 440 and 450 feet above mean sea level, but is generally operated between elevation 445 and 450 to support recreational use of the reservoir (dataweb.usbr.gov). On October 1, in conformance with Public Law the Department of Energy Organization Act of August 4, the power marketing function of the Bureau of Reclamation, including operation and maintenance of transmission lines and attendant facilities were transferred to the Department of Energy (USDI IV. Project Information This documentation has been prepared at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration (Western), Phoenix, Arizona to fulfill Western's responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Parker Dam and associated features have been determined to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district. Western has considered the effects on cultural resources caused by replacing electrical equipment in the switchyards that have become unreliable due to age, as well as the construction of an addition to the Control Building to house batteries and other equipment. This HAER documentation partially fulfills the Special Conditions for Compliance for Section 106 and its implementing regulations at 36 CFR as specified in a Memorandum of Agreement between Western, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the California State Historic Preservation Officer. This documentation was accomplished by TEC Inc., Denver, Colorado. Jonathan Held ofTEC Inc.

was Principal Investigator and the photographer. Some of the information was drawn from previous reports authored by Kurt Schweigert ofTEC Inc. in Information for this HAER documentation was drawn from records, reports, historic photographs, and drawings and specifications held by Western in Phoenix and Denver, and from similar documents held by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Denver, Colorado; Boulder City, Nevada; and at the National Archives and Records Administration in Lakewood, Colorado. Research conducted for the current documentation of the electrical switchyards does not provide adequate information for documentation of the engineering character and construction history of the dam PARKER DAM HAER No. AZ-54 Page 5 structure, power plant, and other features of the complex.

Additional information regarding the Switchyard Control Building at Parker Dam may be found in the documentation of HAER No. AZ-54-A. V. Sources Associated Cultural Resource Experts (ACRE) Historical Evaluation of Western Area Power Administration Facilities in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas Bureau of Reclamation Parker Dam, Annual Project History. United States Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Parker Dam, Annual Project History. United States Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Parker Dam, Annual Project History. United States Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Parker Dam, Annual Project History. United States Department of the Interior.

Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Parker Dam, Annual Project History. United States Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Parker Davis Project, Annual Project History. United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, Colorado. Parker-Davis Project AZ, CA, and NV. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation web site http://dataweb.usbr.gov. Accessed June 14, Linenberger, Toni R. The Parker-Davis Project (Third Draft). Bureau of Reclamation History Program, Denver, Colorado.