Buford Dam is a dam in

Buford, Georgia Buford is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett and Hall County, Georgia, Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of th ...

which is located at the southern end of

Lake Lanier Lake Lanier (officially Lake Sidney Lanier) is a reservoir in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee ...

, a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

formed by the construction of the dam in 1956. The dam itself is managed by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

. The dam is made of earth and concrete, supplemented by three saddle dikes, and was built to provide a water source for the Atlanta area, power homes, and prevent flooding of the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River () is a river in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida and Georgia border. It ...

. Electricity from the dam is marketed by the Southeastern Power Administration.

Construction

Congress authorized construction of the dam in 1946, and in 1949 the federal government gave the State of Georgia $750,000 (equivalent to $ in ) towards the building of the dam and accompanying powerhouse. On March 1, 1950, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, which included dignitaries such as Atlanta mayor William B. Hartsfield. The United States Army Corps of Engineers oversaw the construction of the dam. During construction, land was bought in the area that would become the reservoir. Homes, churches, graveyards, and all other structures that would float were removed or burned. Many residents in the reservoir area fought the buying of their homes with unsuccessful civil lawsuits. The powerhouse required crews to use dynamite to blast a U-shaped space through granite rock structures to hollow out an area for the powerhouse and release gates. During the construction of the dam, Johnnie Callahan died during a rockslide when cutting an intake tunnel into the face of the granite rock wall. On February 1, 1956, the dam was completed when the sluice gates were closed and Lake Lanier began to fill. Unit 2 began operation on June 20, 1957, Unit 3 on July 26, 1957, and Unit 1 on October 10, 1957. The dam was dedicated on October 9, 1957. The power plant went into full-scale operation in July 1958, and the lake reached its intended level on August 1 of that year.

Operation

When water is released from the dam's turbines, several sirens sound as well as an AM warning broadcast. The dam also has a diameter

sluice A sluice ( ) is a water channel containing a sluice gate, a type of lock to manage the water flow and water level. There are various types of sluice gates, including flap sluice gates and fan gates. Different depths are calculated when design s ...

which can be used to allow water to bypass the turbines. Downriver from the dam is a trout breeding hatchery, which is one of the southernmost hatcheries for trout, due to the cool temperature of the water that the dam releases.

Powerhouse

The powerhouse at the dam has three generators: the main generator, a small 7.5 megawatt generator which runs constantly, and two 60 megawatt generators that run twice daily during times of peak electricity demand. The powerhouse provides of electricity annually to the metro Atlanta area. Control of the Buford Dam generators is done remotely from

Carters Dam Carters Dam is an earthen embankment dam located south of Chatsworth, Georgia, Chatsworth in Murray County, Georgia, Murray County and west of Ellijay, Georgia, Ellijay in northwestern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, that creates ...

near Ellijay, Georgia via a microwave signal. The power generated is delivered to

Georgia Power Georgia Power is an electric utility headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was established as the Georgia Railway and Power Company and began operations in 1902 running streetcars in Atlanta as a successor to the Atlanta Consol ...

. The powerhouse is cooled by the temperature of the water running through the dam, which is approximately year-round. In 2002, the US Army Corps of Engineers spent $8.5 million to provide upgrades to the powerhouse.

Goats

Because the earthen slopes on the outer side of the dam exceed 40%

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.) * A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...

(21.8°, 1 in 2.5) and contain rocks and drop off points, they are too steep and unsafe to practically maintain by a landscaping crew. To address this, the US Army Corps of Engineers use

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s to maintain the grass and vegetation on the slope as it is more economically viable than alternatives. Goats have been used since the 1970s for this purpose, and there are sixteen goats that maintain the grounds, known as the "Chew Crew". There is also a

donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

onsite that is used to protect the goats from

coyotes The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely relat ...

References

* {{Cite journal , last=Gillespie , first=Deanna M. , date=2016 , title='Revolutionize Life in the Chattahoochee River Valley': Buford Dam and the Development of Northeastern Georgia, 1950–1970 , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44651734 , journal=Georgia Historical Quarterly , volume=100 , issue=4 , pages=404–440 , jstor=44651734 , url-access=registration 1957 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Buford, Georgia Dams completed in 1957 Dams in Georgia (U.S. state) Energy infrastructure completed in 1957 Engineering projects Hydroelectric power plants in Georgia (U.S. state) United States Army Corps of Engineers