The Big Island Dam is a hydroelectric generation facility on the
James River near the community of
Big Island, Virginia. The project includes a gravity dam spanning the left side of river and a power house on the right bank which contain
hydroelectric generation equipment.
[US Army Corps of Engineers National Inventory of Dams, NIDID VA00902]
The dam is located adjacent to and integrated with the large Georgia Pacific paper mill at this location.
The dam is located downstream of the nearby
Bedford Hydropower Project
The Bedford Hydropower Project (Snowden) is a hydroelectric generation facility on the James River near the community of Big Island, Virginia. The project includes a low head structure completely spanning the river; river flow is split into a concr ...
and is the last in a series of three dams within the span of five miles as the river crosses the
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...
.
References
{{stack, {{Portal, Virginia, Water, Renewable energy
Gravity dams
Hydroelectric power plants in Virginia
Dams completed in 1850
1850 establishments in Virginia
Dams on the James River