Saville Dam is an earthen embankment dam with

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

work on the eastern branch of the

Farmington River The Farmington River is a river, U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in length along its main stem, located in northwest Connecticut with major tributaries ex ...

in southwestern

Barkhamsted, Connecticut Barkhamsted ( ) is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It contains seven villages: West Hill, Mallory, Barkhamsted Center, Center Hill, Washington Hill, Pleasant Valley, and Riverton. The population was 3,647 at the 2020 c ...

. The

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

is 135 ft. (41 m) tall and 1,950 ft. (590 m) long and has an uncontrolled

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 ...

on its western portion. It creates the Barkhamsted Reservoir which has a volume of and is the primary water source for Hartford, Connecticut. In 1927, the Metropolitan District Commission began to purchase land in the present-day footprint of the dam and reservoir. Construction of the dam commenced in 1936 while land to the north was being stripped of lumber and buildings. Before the Metropolitan District Commission named the Saville Dam in 1940 in honor of its chief

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, Caleb Mills Saville, it was referred to as the Bill's Brook Dam after the brook that ran near the site at the time. The foundations for "Bill's Brook Dam" and the diversion tunnel for the East Branch of the Farmington River were completed in August 1934. Subsequently, the East Branch was diverted into the concrete conduit at the bottom of the Bill's Brook Dam site. The dam was completed in May 1940, at a total cost for dam and reservoir of $10M. Although the Saville Dam was completed in 1940, it was not until 1948 that the Barkhamsted Reservoir finally filled to capacity. The Farmington River East Branch is impounded for nearly behind the dam, with the northernmost open waters of Barkhamsted Reservoir terminating in

Hartland, Connecticut Hartland is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,901 at the 2020 census. History Residents petitioned the General Court and the legislature incorporated the town in May 1761. Geography The town is bisected ...

just south of the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

border. The reservoir flooded many buildings and farms of Barkhamsted, including the village of

Barkhamsted Hollow Barkhamsted Hollow was a village in northwestern Connecticut. It was part of the town of Barkhamsted, Connecticut in Litchfield County, Connecticut, incorporated as part of Barkhamsted in 1779. It was flooded by the creation of the Barkhamste ...

.Barkhamstead from the Air, 1934 and 2004
/ref> The village of Barkhamsted Center, partially flooded, lies just to the west of the reservoir. Its remaining buildings are part of the Barkhamsted Center Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

See also

References

Further reading