Bluestone Lake Dam Section Model

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Bluestone Lake Dam Section Model

Purpose: To evaluate structural modifications for safely increasing the discharge capacity of the dam. Specifically

raising the dam via a parapet wall and overtopping a portion of the dam.

Background: Bluestone Dam spans the New River at Hinton, WV

forming Bluestone Lake, the third largest lake in West Virginia. At

summer pool Bluestone Lake covers 2,040 acres and is 10.7 miles

long. Bluestone Dam was constructed as part of the Kanawha River

Basin flood control system primarily to reduce major flood damages

along the New, Kanawha, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers. Bluestone

Dam was completed for operational purposes in January 1949 and

completely finished in January 1952. Total construction cost of this

concrete gravity dam 165 ft. high and 2,048 ft. long was

approximately ,000,000 including land acquisition and has

prevented over a billion dollars worth of flood damage from

occurring. Bluestone Dam has the largest drainage area, 4,565 square

miles, of any dam in West Virginia. The New River begins at

Blowing Rock, North Carolina and flows north through Virginia into

West Virginia. The New River is the oldest river in North America

and partially follows the path of the prehistoric Teays River.

Facts: At the request of the U.S. Army Engineer District,

Huntington, a 1:36 scale section model was designed and constructed

at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center by the

Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. The model reproduces the three

spillway bays of the Bluestone Lake Dam, 1300-ft of the upper pool

and 900-ft of the tailrace. The model was used to evaluate the

hydraulic conditions associated with an increase head (increased

discharge). These conditions include measuring hydraulic loads on the energy dissipation features of the spillway

stilling basin and investigating qualitatively the scour potential downstream of the stilling basin.

Points of Contact: For additional information, please contact

Mr. Dwayne Fuller at 601-634-2668 ( ),

Mr. Glenn Davis at 601-634-4183 ( ) or

Mr. Dennis Markle at 601-634-3680 ( )