Buffalo Bill Dam

Buffalo Bill Dam
Buffalo Bill Dam (prior to 1961)
Buffalo Bill Dam is located in Wyoming
Buffalo Bill Dam
Location of Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming
Official nameBuffalo Ridge
LocationPark County, Wyoming, US
Coordinates44°30′6″N 109°11′0″W / 44.50167°N 109.18333°W / 44.50167; -109.18333
Construction began1905; 119 years ago (1905)
Opening date1910; 114 years ago (1910)
Operator(s)U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Type of damConcrete gravity arch
ImpoundsShoshone River
Height350 feet (110 m)
Length200 feet (61 m)
Width (crest)10 feet (3.0 m)
Width (base)108 feet (33 m)
Dam volume87,515 cu yd (66,910 m3)
Spillway typeConcrete lined tunnel through south abutment, radial arm gates
Spillway capacity84,725 cu ft/s (2,399.1 m3/s)
Reservoir
CreatesBuffalo Bill Reservoir
Total capacity869,230 acre-feet (1.07218 km3) nominal, 623,557 acre-feet (0.769146 km3) due to siltation
Power Station
Hydraulic head265 ft (81 m)
Turbines1 x 3 MW Francis turbine, Unit 3 in Shoshone Powerplant
3 x 6 MW Francis turbines in Buffalo Bill Powerplant
1 x 5 MW Francis turbine in Heart Mountain Powerplant
and 1 x 4.5 MW Francis turbine in Spirit Mountain Powerplant
Installed capacity30.5 MW
Annual generation91,114,580 KWh
Buffalo Bill Dam
LocationW of Cody on U.S. 14
Nearest cityCody, Wyoming
BuiltJanuary 15, 1910; 114 years ago (1910-01-15)[2]
NRHP reference No.71000890[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 12, 1971

Buffalo Bill Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Shoshone River in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Originally 325-foot (99 m), it was the tallest dam in the world[3] when it opened in 1910; a 25-foot (7.6 m) extension was added in 1992 in one of numerous changes and improvements to the structure and its support facilities, which include two full time power generators and two seasonal operations added between 1920 and 1994, and a 2.8-mile (4.5 km) irrigation tunnel completed in 1939.

The dam is located in Shoshone Canyon, and named after the famous Wild West figure William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, who founded the nearby town of Cody and owned much of the land now covered by the reservoir formed by its construction. It is part of the Shoshone Project, successor to several visionary schemes promoted by Cody to irrigate the Bighorn Basin and turn it from a semi-arid sagebrush-covered plain to productive agricultural land.[3] Known at the time of its construction as Shoshone Dam, it was renamed in 1946 to honor Cody.[4]

The original structure was designed by engineer Daniel Webster Cole[5] and built between 1905 and 1910. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971[1] and named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1973.[6] The land around the reservoir is maintained as Buffalo Bill State Park.

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Shoshone Project". United States Bureau of Reclamation. 1996. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Buffalo Bill Dam". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  4. ^ "Shoshone Project History". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  5. ^ "Buffalo Bill Dam History". Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
  6. ^ "Buffalo Bill Dam". American Society of Civil Engineers. Retrieved January 29, 2022.