Facts about the Rapidan Dam
Structure
- Amburson type hollow reinforced concrete
- Constructed: 1908 - 1910
- One fatality
- Height from top of dam to stream bed: 87 feet
- Length: 475 feet
- Spillways: 5 steel tainter gaits and 2 timber gates
Generators
- Two turbines powered by falling water
- 600 cubic feet per second each
- Two generators, three million watts each
- Power for 2,000 to 3,000 residences with both generators running at capacity
Blue Earth River at Dam Partnership
- Drainage area above dam: 2,430 square miles
- Blue Earth County owns the dam and reservoir
- Mean flow: 827 cubic feet per second
- 100 year flood: 34,600 cubic feet per second
- Eagle Creek Renewable Energy owns turbines, generators, electrical equipment, and operates dam
- Flood of record: 43,100 cubic feet per second
See the
current flow.
Reservoir Principal Regulators
- Extent: 318 acres, 6.3 miles long - Federal Energy Regulatory Agency (FERC)
- Estimated sediment: 11,000,000 cubic yards - Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR)