East Barre Dam – East Barre VT

Description

“The East Barre Dam was one of four flood damage reduction projects constructed in Vermont by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Construction was overseen by the Corps’ North Atlantic Division. The construction costs of East Barre Dam were not calculated separately because of accounting procedures, but instead lumped together with the construction costs of Waterbury Reservoir, Wrightsville Reservoir, and the Winooski River Local Protection Project. The construction costs of these four projects totaled $13.7 million. Following completion, East Barre Dam was turned over to the State of Vermont for operation and maintenance.

The project provides flood protection primarily to Barre and Montpelier. In conjunction with Waterbury Reservoir and Wrightsville Reservoir, the project reduces flood damage to other communities downstream on the Winooski River, including Waterbury.
Construction of the dam began in July 1933 and was completed in November 1935.

The project consists of an earthfill dam with stone slope protection 1,460 feet long and 65 feet high; a 313-foot-long concrete rectangular conduit four feet wide and seven feet high; and a spillway with a 174-foot-long concrete ogee weir. The weir’s crest elevation is 20 feet lower than the top of the dam.”  There is no permanent reservoir behind East Barre Dam, unlike the others. (Army Corps)

East Barre Dam was modified in the late 1950s.

A key aspect of these dams is that they were built by a CCC company made up entirely of African American World War I veterans.