Kelly Barnes Dam was an earthen

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface an ...

Stephens County, Georgia Stephens County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia, in the Piedmont and near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is bounded by the Tugaloo River and Lake Hartwell on the east. As of the 2010 census, ...

, just outside the city of

Toccoa Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia near the border with South Carolina. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, Stephens County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located about from Athens, Geo ...

. Heavy rainfall caused it to collapse on November 6, 1977, and the resulting flood killed 39 people and caused $2.8 million in damage. The dam was never rebuilt. A memorial to the dead stands downstream, by Toccoa Falls on the campus of

Toccoa Falls College Toccoa Falls College is a private Christian college in Toccoa Falls, Georgia. The campus occupies , bordering the Chattahoochee National Forest and is home to Toccoa Falls, a high waterfall. It is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary ...

History

In 1899, a rock crib dam was built by E. P. Simpson to create a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

for a small

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

that began operating that same year. The plant, now a historical site on the Toccoa Falls College campus called the Old Toccoa Falls Power Plant, produced 200 kW for the town of

Toccoa, Georgia Toccoa is a city in far Northeast Georgia near the border with South Carolina. It is the county seat of Stephens County, Georgia, United States, located about from Athens and about northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,133 as of the 202 ...

. The power plant was transferred in 1933 to the Toccoa Falls Institute, which decided to develop a more stable

electric power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions ...

source and built an earthen

over the original rock crib dam between 1939 and 1940. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the dam was again raised, creating Barnes Lake, a reservoir. The modifications provided power for Toccoa Falls Institute until 1957, when the power production was stopped, and the lake was thereafter used only for recreation.

Dam characteristics

The dam was modified several times, ultimately measuring high, long and wide at its crest. The dam had two uncontrolled earthen

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 ...

s. The main spillway was long, wide and located on the left side of the structure. A low point on the right side and away from the dam could also be used as a secondary spillway when the reservoir levels became too high. The

was located about upstream from the Toccoa Falls and mostly consisted of residual soils and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

. The dam sat on a foundation of silt and stable biotite

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

(rock). Within the dam embankment were two

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 ...

structures. One helped support a pipe that was used as a low-level spillway. The other contained a

penstock A penstock is a sluice or gate or intake structure that controls water flow, or an enclosed pipe that delivers water to hydro turbines and sewerage systems. The term is inherited from the earlier technology of mill ponds and watermills. H ...

(pipe) for the hydroelectricity power plant. Neither was being used at the time of the flood.Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam and Findings – Conclusion
/ref>

Dam failure

On November 6, 1977, at 1:30 am, the Kelly Barnes Dam failed after four days of heavy rain: had fallen from November 2 to 5 — half of that between 6 pm and midnight on November 5. The rain swelled Barnes Lake, which normally held of water, to an estimated of water. A total of of the dam failed, causing a peak of maximum discharge to burst downstream.
/ref> Wea00705 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library

The flood killed 39 people and destroyed nine houses, 18 house trailers, two college buildings and many motor vehicles. Five houses and five college buildings were also damaged. Two bridges on Toccoa Falls Drive and a culvert at County Farm Road were completely destroyed. The embankments at

Georgia State Route 17 State Route 17 (SR 17) is a state highway that travels northwest–southeast in the east-central and northeastern parts of the U.S. state of Georgia. The highway connects the Savannah metro area to the North Carolina state line, ...

were destroyed on either side of the bridge, and one of the bridge

abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining wal ...

s at Highview Road was destroyed. The water-supply pipe for the city of Toccoa was damaged and the city's water supply was contaminated for several days. The cost of the damage was $2.8 million. After the flood, Georgia's Governor

George Busbee George Dekle Busbee Sr. (August 7, 1927 – July 16, 2004), was an American politician who served as the 77th Governor of the State of Georgia from 1975 to 1983, and a senior partner at King & Spalding thereafter. Early life Born in Vienna, Geo ...

called for an immediate investigation, which was carried out by a Federal Investigative Board of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

. Their report was released December 21, 1977, with no specific causes cited for the failure. The investigators had no engineering plans for the dam and records of construction on the dam were based on witnesses, pictures, and newspaper articles. The investigation did, however, cite several possible or probable causes. The failure of the dam's slope may have contributed to weakness in the structure, particularly in the heavy rain. A collapse of the low-level spillway could have also exacerbated this problem. A 1973 photo showed a , slide had occurred on the downstream face of the dam, which may have also contributed or foreshadowed the dam failure. Overall, the dam itself was in poor condition and lacked a sufficient design.

References

External links

Toccoa Falls College
Toccoa Falls College Dam Break Memorial Page

USGS Report on the Kelly Barnes Dam Failure ({{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010082434/https://ga.water.usgs.gov/publications/ha613/index.html , date=10 October 2007)
WSB-TV video
Wilkerson Examines the Wreckage of the Toccoa Flood, Nov. 9, 1977. Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries. Web. 5 June 2016.
WSB-TV video
Residents of Toccoa Falls Explain How They Survived the Flood, Nov. 6, 1978. Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries. Web. 5 June 2016.
WSB-TV video
Memorial Service Is Held for Toccoa Falls College Students Who Were Killed in the Flood, Nov. 9, 1977. Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries. Web. 5 June 2016.
Toccoa Falls Power Plant
Toccoa Falls Power Plant historical marker Disasters in Georgia (U.S. state) Dam failures in the United States 1977 disasters in the United States Buildings and structures in Stephens County, Georgia 1977 in Georgia (U.S. state) Dams in Georgia (U.S. state) United States privately owned dams November 1977 events in the United States Toccoa Falls College 1899 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1977 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

History

Dam characteristics

Dam failure

See also

References

Further reading

External links