Falcon Dam | |
---|---|
Location | Starr County, Texas, USA / Guerrero Municipality, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
Coordinates | 26°33′32″N 99°09′53″W / 26.55889°N 99.16472°W |
Construction began | 1950 |
Opening date | 1954 |
Construction cost | $35 million (U.S. Share) |
Dam and spillways | |
Impounds | Rio Grande |
Height | 150 ft (46 m) |
Length | 26,294 ft (8,014 m) |
Width (base) | 35 ft (11 m) (Crest) |
Reservoir | |
Creates | Falcon International Reservoir |
Total capacity | 2,645,646 acre⋅ft (3.263356×109 m3) |
Surface area | 87,400 acres (354 km2) |
Power Station | |
Turbines | 6 x 10.5 MW Francis |
Installed capacity | 63 MW[1] |
Falcon Dam (Spanish: Presa Falcón) is an earthen embankment dam on the Rio Grande between Starr County in the U.S. state of Texas and the city of Nueva Ciudad Guerrero in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The dam was built for water conservation, irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, flood control, and recreational purposes and as an international border crossing between Zapata and Starr Counties and Tamaulipas. Construction on the dam began in December 1950 and ended in April 1954 but it was dedicated by Mexican President Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in October 1953.[2][3]