Bagnell Dam

Bagnell Dam
Bagnell Dam
Location of Bagnell Dam in Missouri Bagnell Dam (the United States)
Country	United States
Location	617 River Rd., Lakeside, Missouri
Coordinates	38°12′08″N 92°37′37″W
Purpose	Hydroelectric
Construction began	1929
Opening date	1931
Owner(s)	AmerenUE
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Concrete gravity
Impounds	Osage River
Height (foundation)	148 ft (45 m)
Length	2,543 ft (775 m)
Spillway type	Gated overflow
Reservoir
Creates	Lake of the Ozarks
Total capacity	1,927,000 acre⋅ft (2.377 km3)
Active capacity	468,000 acre⋅ft (0.577 km3)
Catchment area	13,944 sq mi (36,110 km2)
Surface area	54,000 acres (22,000 ha)
Normal elevation	660 ft (200 m) max
Osage Powerplant
Type	Conventional
Hydraulic head	90 ft (27 m)
Turbines	Main: 8x 21.5 MW (33,500 HP) Francis Station service: 2x 2.0 MW (3,025 HP) Francis
Installed capacity	176.0 MW 220 MW (overload)
Annual generation	624,000 MWh
Bagnell Dam and Osage Power Plant
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	6 acres (2.4 ha)
Architect	Stone & Webster
Architectural style	Gravity Dam
NRHP reference No.	08000822
Added to NRHP	August 27, 2008

Bagnell Dam impounds the Osage River in the U.S. state of Missouri, creating the Lake of the Ozarks. The 148-foot (45 m) tall concrete gravity dam was built by the Union Electric Company (now AmerenUE) for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation at its Osage Powerplant. It is 2,543 feet (775 m) long, including a 520-foot (160 m) long spillway and a 511-foot (156 m) long power station. The facility with eight generators has a maximum capacity of 215 megawatts.

Etymology

The dam derives its name from Bagnell, Missouri at the dam site which preceded the dam. It in turn derives its name from William Bagnell, who platted the town in 1883. A variant name is the "Osage Dam".

Geography

The dam is located in the city of Lakeside in Miller County, near the Camden-Miller County line.

History

Construction started on the dam in 1929 and was completed in 1931. The resulting reservoir, the Lake of the Ozarks, has a surface area of 55,000 acres (22,000 ha), over 1,150 miles (1,850 km) of shoreline (1850 km), and stretches 94 miles (151 km) from end to end. At the time of construction, it was one of the largest man-made lakes in the world and the largest in the United States. Its construction virtually ended commercial traffic on the upper river.

Bagnell Dam

The concept of a hydro-electric power plant on the Osage River was first introduced by a Kansas City developer as early as 1912. Ralph Street managed to put together the funding to construct a dam across the Osage River. He began building roads, railroads, and the support structures necessary to begin construction of a dam that would impound a much smaller lake than what is now known as Lake of the Ozarks. Sometime in the mid-1920s, Street's funding dried up, and he had to abandon the idea of the first hydroelectric power plant on the Osage River.

Union Electric Power and Light stepped in with engineering firm Stone & Webster from Boston, Massachusetts. It designed and constructed Bagnell Dam in one of the most unlikely spots along the Osage River. Many thought the $30 million project would be a disaster after the stock market crash of 1929, but it was completed. Employment during the lengthy construction proved to be a boost to many families in the area, as well as the hundreds of workers attracted from other areas of the country. By early 21st-century standards, all construction was done by hand, and the equipment used in the construction was quite primitive. The construction of Bagnell Dam was completed and Lake of the Ozarks was a full reservoir in fewer than two years.

The stock market crash of 1929, which precipitated the Great Depression, occurred just months after construction began on Bagnell Dam. The project employed thousands of laborers, providing a large economic boost to the rural area around the dam and to the state as a whole at a time when jobs were scarce.

The associated Union Electric Administration Building-Lakeside was constructed in 1930. This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, with a boundary increase of associated property in 2011.

Floodgates

Construction of the dam allowed for thirteen floodgates, as called for in the original design. Only twelve floodgates were installed, and the thirteenth spillway opening is walled shut with concrete. The engineers calculated that twelve floodgates provided a large enough margin of safety.

Taum Sauk pumped storage plant

AmerenUE remotely operates the Taum Sauk pumped storage plant from its control room at Bagnell Dam.

Popular culture

The Bagnell Dam and the Lake of the Ozarks reservoir feature prominently in the Netflix television series Ozark. The reservoir's displacement of the fictional Snell family left a legacy of distrust and antipathy to outsiders and developers. For the Snells, this distrust feeds a lust for just retribution and influences how they view the politics of development around the lake and why they get involved in an effort to bring a casino.

References

• "Osage Power Plant". Ameren. Archived from the original on 23 February 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2005.
• "Watershed, Niangua River, Hydrology Chapter". Missouri Department of Conservation's Missouri's Rivers and Their Watersheads Homepage. Archived from the original on 17 March 2005. Retrieved February 25, 2005.
• "Bagnell Dam". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
• "Osage Dam". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2006-05-12.
• Map of Bagnell Dam area

External links

Media related to Bagnell Dam at Wikimedia Commons

• Bagnell Dam Facts and Photos