The Belle Fourche Dam, also known as Orman Dam, is a dam on Owl Creek in Butte County,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, USA, approximately east of

Belle Fourche, South Dakota Belle Fourche (; ) is a city in and the county seat of Butte County, South Dakota, Butte County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 5,617 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and was estimated to be 5,873 in 2023, making i ...

, along

U.S. Route 212 U.S. Route 212 (US 212) is a spur of U.S. Route 12, US 12. It runs for from Yellowstone National Park to Minnesota State Highway 62 (Hennepin–Dakota counties), Minnesota Highway 62 at Edina, Minnesota. It does not intersect US 12 ...

. Its construction created the Belle Fourche Reservoir, the Belle Fourche National Wildlife Refuge, and the Rocky Point Recreation Area. The reservoir has approximately of water surface, of land, and of shoreline. It is stocked with walleye, catfish, and white bass. Average depth is , but it has areas as deep as at full capacity. Common activities at BFR (Belle Fourche Reservoir)include boating, fishing, ice fishing, ice skating, camping, cooking out, water skiing, and fossil hunting. Construction occurred in several stages between 1903 and 1907. The dam was the first project undertaken by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

(USBR). At its 1911 completion by the USBR, Belle Fourche Dam was the largest earthen dam in the world. The dam is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. With . In 1989, it was listed among the approximately 250

Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United Stat ...

. The dam is described as "a homogeneous earthfill structure containing about of material. It has a maximum base width of , a structural height of , and a hydraulic height of . The crest of the dam at elevation has a length of and a width of ."

References

External links

*
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation page
* {{authority control Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota Dams in South Dakota Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Protected areas of Butte County, South Dakota Reservoirs in South Dakota United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1911 Bodies of water of Butte County, South Dakota 1911 establishments in South Dakota National Register of Historic Places in Butte County, South Dakota