Spencer Dam

Spencer Dam
	The power plant 2010
	location
Coordinates	42 ° 48 '17 " N , 98 ° 39' 35" W Coordinates: 42 ° 48 '17 " N , 98 ° 39' 35" W.
country	United States
Waters	Niobrara River
Height upstream	461 m
	power plant
owner	Nebraska Public Power District
Start of operation	1927
	technology
Bottleneck performance	3 megawatts
Turbines	2 Kaplan turbines
	Others

The dam Spencer (English Spencer Dam ) was a dam with running power plant in Nebraska , USA . It was destroyed in a storm in 2019.

The power plant went into operation on July 1, 1927 and is located on the Niobrara River , which is the border between Holt County and Boyd County .

The barrier structure consisted of four segment weirs , five dam beams , a gate , a flood relief and an earth embankment dam about 1127 meters long . In the power house were two Westinghouse - generators housed (2000 kW and 1300 kW). The area of the reservoir was around 4.85 km² when it was commissioned. To remove the deposited sediments from the reservoir, several weirs were opened every six months. These reservoir flushes , which lasted about a week , had a negative impact on the fish population in the river. In 2014, the weirs were only opened in autumn for a scientific study on sedimentation.

On the evening of March 13, 2019, an intense storm broke the dam and the engine house was damaged by drift ice . A bridge on Highway 281 over the Niobrara, 600 meters downstream, was destroyed by the flood, and some residents had to be evacuated from the flooded area.

supporting documents

^ David Budka: Spencer Dam Summer 2009. In: ipernity.com . 2009, accessed on March 16, 2019 .
↑ Michael P. Gutzmer, Justin W. King, David P. Overhue: Environmental Impacts in the Vicinity of Spencer Hydropower Dam During Sluicing Activities in the Niobrara River, Nebraska . In: Nebraska Academy of Sciences (Ed.): Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies . No. 81 , 1996, pp. 1 (English, available online at unl.edu ).
↑ Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Anthony M. Coleman, Ronald B. Zelt: Documentation of particle-size analyzer time series, and discrete suspended-sediment and bed-sediment sample data collection, Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, October 2014 (= USGS [Ed.]: US Geological Survey Data Series . No. 1079 ). 2018, p. 1 , doi : 10.3133 / ds1079 .
^ Elizabeth Ingram: Nebraska dam with 3-MW hydro powerhouse damaged during flooding. In: hydroworld.com. March 14, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
^ Nicole Rojas: Nebraska, Midwest Flooding Maps, Update: Nuclear Plant Braces for Rising Waters, Prepares for Shutdown. In: newsweek.com . March 15, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
↑ Pam Wright, Ron Brackett: Deadly, Historic Flooding Swamps Plains, Midwest; Nebraska City Cut Off, Bridges Washed Out, Levees Breached. In: weather.com . March 17, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .

[1] David Budka: Spencer Dam Summer 2009. In: ipernity.com . 2009, accessed on March 16, 2019 .

[2] Michael P. Gutzmer, Justin W. King, David P. Overhue: Environmental Impacts in the Vicinity of Spencer Hydropower Dam During Sluicing Activities in the Niobrara River, Nebraska . In: Nebraska Academy of Sciences (Ed.): Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies . No. 81 , 1996, pp. 1 (English, available online at unl.edu ).

[3] Nathaniel J. Schaepe, Anthony M. Coleman, Ronald B. Zelt: Documentation of particle-size analyzer time series, and discrete suspended-sediment and bed-sediment sample data collection, Niobrara River near Spencer, Nebraska, October 2014 (= USGS [Ed.]: US Geological Survey Data Series . No. 1079 ). 2018, p. 1 , doi : 10.3133 / ds1079 .

[4] Elizabeth Ingram: Nebraska dam with 3-MW hydro powerhouse damaged during flooding. In: hydroworld.com. March 14, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .

[5] Nicole Rojas: Nebraska, Midwest Flooding Maps, Update: Nuclear Plant Braces for Rising Waters, Prepares for Shutdown. In: newsweek.com . March 15, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .

[6] Pam Wright, Ron Brackett: Deadly, Historic Flooding Swamps Plains, Midwest; Nebraska City Cut Off, Bridges Washed Out, Levees Breached. In: weather.com . March 17, 2019, accessed on March 17, 2019 .