Detroit Dam is a

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...

on the

North Santiam River The North Santiam River is a tributary of the Santiam River in western Oregon in the United States. It drains of the Cascade Range on the eastern side of the Willamette Valley east of Salem. It rises in the high Cascades in eastern Linn count ...

between Linn County and Marion County,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It is located in the Cascades, about west of the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. It was constructed between 1949 and 1953 by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

. The dam created deep

Detroit Lake Detroit Lake is a reservoir impounded by the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River southeast of Salem, Oregon, United States. The lake is adjacent to Oregon Route 22 near the city of Detroit. This mesotrophic lake stores water for use by the ci ...

, more than 9 miles (14 km) long with 32 miles (51 km) of

shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

. It is one of the dams authorized by the

Flood Control Act of 1938 The Flood Control Act of 1938 was an Act of the United States Congress signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that authorized civil engineering projects such as dams, levees, dikes, and other flood control measures through the Un ...

. Construction was delayed largely due to World War II. The dam, dedicated on June 10, 1953, was authorized for the purposes of flood control, power generation, navigation, and irrigation. Other uses are fishery, water quality, and recreation. It was built in concert with the Big Cliff Dam downstream. In 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that this dam was at risk of failing in a large earthquake in the

Cascadia subduction zone The Cascadia subduction zone is a convergent plate boundary that stretches from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Northern California in the United States. It is a very long, sloping subduction zone where the Explorer, Juan de Fuca, and ...

, which would result in a "potentially catastrophic flood", which could potentially affect Oregon's state capital,

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

, located downstream. For this reason, the level of the reservoir was lowered by five feet, to reduce the stress on the concrete structure. File:Detroit Dam - free-overflow spill test.jpg, Free-overflow spill test, 2013 File:Detroit Dam.jpg, Top of Dam

Capacity

* Drainage area: 437 mi² (1,132 km²) * Maximum inflow: 63,200 ft³/s (1,790 m³/s) 1909 * Lake Elevation ** Maximum pool: 1,574 ft (480 m) ** Full pool: 1,569 ft (478 m) ** Minimum flood control pool: 1,450 ft (442 m) * Usable storage (1,425.0 to 1,563.5 ft) = * Powerhouse ** Number of units: 2 ** Nameplate capacity: 100 MW ** Overload capacity: 115 MW ** Hydraulic capacity: 5,340 ft³/s (151 m³/s)

References

External links

Corps of Engineers plots
of lake level and flow for various intervals up to a year Dams in Oregon Hydroelectric power plants in Oregon Buildings and structures in Linn County, Oregon Buildings and structures in Marion County, Oregon United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Dams completed in 1953 Energy infrastructure completed in 1953 1953 establishments in Oregon Gravity dams