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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Pit 3 Dam

Pit-3 Dam (also known as Pit Number Three Dam and Dam Number Three) is a hydroelectric dam on the Pit River in northern California in the United States. It forms Lake Britton, and is owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

Specifications

Pit 3 is a curved concrete gravity dam with a height of 130 ft (40 m) and length of 494 ft (151 m). The dam has a gated spillway with three steel gates and three inflatable rubber gates. An intake structure at the dam diverts water into a 19-foot (5.8 m) diameter, 21,203-foot (6,463 m) long tunnel that connects to the Pit 3 hydroelectric plant. There are three 23.3 MW generators, for a total capacity of 69.9 MW.

Lake Britton, formerly known as Pit 3 Reservoir, has a maximum water level of 2,737.5 ft (834.4 m); however, the lake is usually kept below 2,736.5 ft (834.1 m) to avoid flooding parts of McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park. The gross storage capacity is 41,877 acre-feet (51,655,000 m) and the usable (active) storage is 14,443 acre-feet (17,815,000 m).

The lake level changes on a weekly basis with greater drawdowns during the weekdays for power generation, and refilling on the weekends. In addition to generating power at the Pit 3 hydroelectric station, the reservoir also helps regulate water flowing through the Pit 4 and Pit 5 stations downstream.

The dam is the place where Pacific Crest Trail crosses the Pit River.

History

Construction was completed in 1925 (99 years ago) (1925).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Lake Britton, northwest California". FindLakes. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  2. ^ "Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Hydropower License: Pit 3, 4, 5 Hydroelectric Project". Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Mar 2003. Retrieved 2018-04-28.
  3. ^ "Pit River Watershed". California Hydropower Reform Coalition. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
  4. ^ "California Hydroelectric Statistics & Data". California Energy Commission. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  5. ^ Rountree, Marilyn. "Hydroelectric Dams and Powerhouses". Shasta County History. Retrieved 2010-11-13.
Lake Britton.