One of the largest earthen
dams in the world, located near
Pierre, SD. It is the pride and job of the
Army Corps of Engineers, who operate the
Missouri River dams.
Construction of Oahe Dam started in
1948 finished in
1962. The dam measures 9,300 feet long with a maximum height of 245 feet. Each of the seven
turbines generate 112,290
kilowatts of power. Oddly enough,
none of the
power generated is used
locally. I don't think any is even used in
South Dakota. Monster transmissions lines ship the power out East, far from the people of SD.
Lake Oahe is the 4th-largest man-made reservoir in the United States. The Lake stretches from Pierre, SD to
Bismark, ND. It has 2250 miles of shoreline, and a maximum depth of 205 feet. If it wasn't so
fricking cold all the time, the lake would be
awesome for water skiing. But until about
August, you need a
wetsuit if you even dare set foot in the lake. Just the other day (Late May), the water was about 45 degrees. The total
storage capacity of the
reservoir is 23.5 million
acre-feet. The lake drains an area of approximately 243,490
square miles.
The size and scale of this thing are just
mind blowing. The dam is so big, mistaking it for a hill is easy. It stretches all along the
horizon. And just think, they dug this. It wasn't there, they dug for
two decades non stop to build it. Crazy.
Oahe is one of six main stem dams in the
Pick Sloan plan for development of the
Missouri River Basin. The plan was authorized by the
Flood Control Act of 1944. The
Corps of Engineers began construction of Oahe Dam in 1948 and initiated hydroelectric power generation in 1962. President
John F. Kennedy officially dedicated the dam and lake on
August 17, 1962.
It cost something like $350 million to build just this dam.
They give tours of the powerhouse and surrounding area. It's well worth it.