Red Bridge Hydro (shortened to "Red Bridge") is a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

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 electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

located on the

Chicopee River The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving wat ...

in the towns of Wilbraham,

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

, and Belchertown,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It was constructed in 1901 and is currently owned by Central Rivers Power LLC and is operated by Patriot Hydro, an affiliate of LS Power.

Dam, Powerhouse, Canal and Headgate

Dam

At the north end of the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

, is a 165 foot-long earth embankment with a concrete core. The middle section contains a 300 foot-long overflow

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 tha ...

. The southern end is also a 362 foot-long earthen embankment with a concrete core. The highest point of the

is approximately 51 feet tall. The overflow spillway creates a bypass that runs almost half of a mile (2,160 feet) to meet back up with the Chicopee River downstream of the powerhouse.

Power Canal and Headgate

The canal headgate is a wooden building with a

granite block Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

foundation. It houses 10 intake gates. The intake gates allow water from the

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 ...

to flow into the

power canal A power canal is a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport of watercraft. The power canal was a major factor in the Industrial Revolution in New England in the 19th century. Most early power canals were mill races ...

. These gates are manually operated and have dimensions of 5.5 feet tall and 8.5 feet wide. The

is 340 feet long by 73 feet wide and 13 feet deep. It extends from the headgate to the intake structure (contains trashrack and

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 of Scots origin, and was inherited from the earlier technology of mill pond ...

). The walls are made of cut

Granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. Looking down from the headgate, to the right of the intake structure, is the ice sluice (a small dam on the side of the canal for ice to fall off of) which is made from stone blocks). The sluice crosses under Red Bridge Rd and back into the

Powerhouse

The powerhouse is a

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

building with a stone foundation. It has the turbine wells to run 4 units ( generators/

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

). In the northern end of the building are units No. 1 and No. 2. These were horizontal water wheels with 40 cycle generators. They were retired in 1938 and were removed sometime after. Between 2009 and 2019, the penstocks for the units were removed. In the southern end of the building are units No. 3 and No.4, which are still operating. There are 4 discharge bays, one for each unit. The two operating units discharge water into the tailrace canal, which runs 735 feet back to the Chicopee River. On August 22, 2023, part of the powerhouse collapsed. As of December, 2023, an investigation into the collapse is still ongoing, no determination has been made about the future of the plant at this time.

Chicopee River Reservoir

The Chicopee River Reservoir (Red Bridge Pool) is a 180

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

impoundment (

), formed by the Red Bridge Dam. It is neighbored by a 106 acre impoundment, located north of the main impoundment, which is fed by the Broad Brook. The main impoundment is fed by the

and has a boat ramp (Red Bridge Boat Ramp). The boat ramp sits on the south side of the headgate.

References

1901 establishments in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Hampden County, Massachusetts Energy infrastructure completed in 1901 Hydroelectric power plants in Massachusetts {{Hydroelectric-power-plant-stub