Curwensville Dam is located on the
West Branch Susquehanna River
The West Branch Susquehanna River is one of the two principal branches, along with the North Branch, of the Susquehanna River in the Northeastern United States. The North Branch, which rises in upstate New York, is generally regarded as the exten ...
about 0.6 miles (1 km) upstream from
Curwensville
Curwensville is a borough in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Altoona on the West Branch Susquehanna River. Coal mining, tanning, and the manufacture of fire bricks were the industries at the turn of the 20th century. In 1 ...
in
Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Clearfield County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,562. The county seat is Clearfield, and the largest city is DuBois. The county was created in 1804 and later organized in 1822.
C ...
. The dam is an earth fill structure 2,850 feet long, rising 131 feet above the stream bed, with a
spillway
A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...
and gate-controlled outlet.
The
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
,
Curwensville Lake
Curwensville Lake is a reservoirhttp://curwensvillelake.com/ located just to the south of the town of Curwensville, Pennsylvania. The lake was formed due to the construction of the Curwensville Dam to the north of the lake. Before the dam was ...
, has a storage capacity of at spillway crest and extends upstream when filled to that level. The project controls a drainage area of or 98 percent of the West Branch at Curwensville and 75 percent at
Clearfield, PA.
The project is owned and operated by the
.
[http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Factsheets/PDFs/Operations/PA-CurwensvilleLake-O&M.pdf] Clearfield County operates and maintains the recreation area which includes a beach, boat launch, picnic areas, athletic fields, playgrounds, picnic pavilions and a 43-site campground.
References
*Wildernet.com http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=PAAECW&CU_ID=1
*http://clearfield-county.com/
West Branch Susquehanna River
Dams in Pennsylvania
United States Army Corps of Engineers dams
Dams completed in 1965
Buildings and structures in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Dams on the Susquehanna River
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