Frank D. Comerford Dam

Infobox_Dam
dam_name= Frank D. Comeford Dam


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official_name= Frank D. Comerford Dam
crosses= Connecticut River
reservoir= Comerford Reservoir
locale=Monroe, New Hampshire, USA
maint= TransCanada Hydro Northeast Inc. [http://www.state.vt.us/psb/orders/2005/files/7038fnl.pdf State of Vermont Public Service Board] accessed March 16, 2008]
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began= 1928
open= 1930
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Frank D Comerford Dam is an International Style concrete dam in the Fifteen Mile Falls of the Connecticut River, on the border between the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Vermont. [ [http://www.plymouth.edu/thirdtier/fullstory.phtml?number=5042 Plymouth State News] ] The dam, located next to Monroe, New Hampshire, is named after Frank D. Comerford, who played an instrumental role in its construction. Construction began in 1928 and was completed in 1931. The dam and the power plant are operated by the TransCanada Corp. [ [http://www.cbr.ca/CompanyListing.aspx?CompanyId=3844 Subsidiaries of TransCanada] ]
Comerford Reservoir is the reservoir created behind the dam, named after Frank D. Comerford, president of the Connecticut River Power Company and the New England Power Company.

Hydroelectric power plants have the ability to vary the amount of power generated, depending on the demand. Steam turbine power plants are not as easily "throttled" because of the amount of thermodynamic inertia contained in their systems.

Geology

In what would become the Connecticut River, running water wore out a rocky gorge convert|40|ft|m|0 to convert|100|ft|m|0 deep in pre-glacial days. The result was a gentle gradient, convert|10|ft|m|0 to the convert|1|mi|km|1. The drop is convert|320|ft|m|0 over convert|15|mi|km|0. The area was called "Fifteen Mile Falls."

History

On September 30, 1930, President Herbert Hoover remotely initiated the generation of electricity from Comerford Dam, then New England's largest single hydroelectric development. This was the first in a series, harnessing hydroelectric power in the United States in the 1930s. The power was sent convert|126|mi|km for use in Massachusetts. [ [http://www.vermonter.com/nek/concord2.asp Vermonter.com, "Concord, Vermont - Natural Resources"] ] At the time of its construction, it was the largest "retaining wall" in the United States, representing more than convert|90000|cuyd|m3 of concrete.cite book | author = Frances Ann Johnson |title = The History of Monroe, New Hampshire | publisher = Courier Printing Company | year = 1955, p. 110 ]

In 2005, USGen New England sold the dam to TransCanada Hydro Northeast Inc. [http://www.state.vt.us/psb/orders/2005/files/7038fnl.pdf State of Vermont Public Service Board] accessed March 16, 2008]

Construction

A camp was constructed in East Barnet, Vermont in 1928 for 1500 workers. The camp contained its own housing, commissary, theater (which substituted as a church on Sunday), and a hospital. It had its own hockey and basketball teams. 120 people prepared and served meals. 1300 men worked the day shift from 7-6 with one hour off for lunch. 300 men worked the night shift. [cite book | author = Fisher, Harriet F. |title = A Picnic by the Dam Site | publisher = The Kingdom Historical | year = June 2003]

Construction materials were supplied on a special convert|3|mi|km|1|adj=on railroad track built to the site.

References

External links

* [http://www.erudit.org/revue/gpq/1999/v53/n1/004879ar.html How the site was selected for damming]