Chief Joseph Dam

Chief Joseph Dam
LocationDouglas and Okanogan counties, Washington,
United States
Coordinates47°59′43″N 119°38′00″W / 47.99528°N 119.63333°W / 47.99528; -119.63333
Construction began1949
Opening date1979
Operator(s) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District
Dam and spillways
Type of damConcrete-gravity, run-of-the-river
ImpoundsColumbia River
Height236 ft (72 m)[1]
Length5,962 ft (1,817 m)[1]
Width (crest)22 ft (7 m)
Width (base)164 ft (50 m)
Spillway typeService, gate-controlled
Spillway capacity6,030 m3/s (212,947 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
CreatesRufus Woods Lake
Total capacity516,000 acre-foot (636,000,000 m3)
Catchment area75,400 sq mi (195,285 km2)
Surface area13.1 sq mi (34 km2)
Power Station
Operator(s)USACE
TypeHydroelectric
Turbines27 x Francis turbines
Installed capacity2,620 MW
Capacity factor42.6%
Annual generation9,780 GWh (2009)[2]
Website
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Chief Joseph Dam

The Chief Joseph Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River, 2.4 km (1.5 mi) upriver from Bridgeport, Washington. The dam is 877 km (545 mi) upriver from the mouth of the Columbia at Astoria, Oregon. It is operated by the USACE Chief Joseph Dam Project Office and the electricity is marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration.

  1. ^ a b Clean Energy Action Project. "Chief Joseph Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-05. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  2. ^ "Carbon Monitoring for Action".