New Croton Dam

This big wall holds back water in New York.

It was built a long time ago. Workers finished it in 1906. The wall is made of stone. It is very wide at the bottom. It is also very tall.

When it was done, it was the tallest dam in the world. It helps send water to the city.

People can walk near the dam today.

The New Croton Dam is a large stone wall. It sits on the Croton River in New York. This dam helps supply water to New York City.

Workers began building the dam in 1892. They finished it in 1906. At that time, it was the tallest dam in the world. A man named Alphonse Fteley designed it. He made it a masonry gravity dam. This means the dam is made of stone and uses its own weight to stay in place.

To build it, workers had to move the river. They dug a long canal in a nearby hill. They also used temporary dams to control the water. Many people worked on the project. Some stonemasons even moved from southern Italy to help.

The dam holds back a big lake called a reservoir. This water travels through a pipe called an aqueduct. The aqueduct carries the water to the city. Today, people can visit the area. You can walk on trails near the base of the dam.

The New Croton Dam is a huge stone structure in New York. It sits on the Croton River near Croton-on-Hudson. This dam creates the New Croton Reservoir to hold water. This water helps supply New York City with what it needs. The dam is a masonry gravity dam. This means it is built from stone and uses its own weight to stay strong.

Building such a big dam was a very hard job. Workers had to move the river from its normal path first. They pumped the riverbed dry so they could work. To do this, they dug a long canal in a hill. This canal was shaped like a crescent. They used a stone wall to hold the canal in place. They also built temporary dams to control the water flow.

People worked hard to finish this project over many years. Construction began in 1892 and ended in 1906. A designer named Alphonse Fteley created the plans for the dam. At the time it was finished, it was the tallest dam in the world. The workforce included many different people. Some stonemasons even moved from southern Italy to New York to help.

The dam is a very large piece of engineering. It contains 650,000 cubic yards of masonry. The foundation of the dam goes deep below the river bed. The spillway has a length of 500 feet. The total length of the dam and spillway is 1,100 feet. It holds up to 7 billion gallons of water. This is a small part of the city's total water storage.

You can see how this water moves through the state. The water travels through an aqueduct to reach the city. It can flow to the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. Today, people visit the area for fun. You can hike on the Old Croton Trail near the dam. You can also visit Croton Gorge Park to see the view.

The New Croton Dam is a massive masonry gravity dam located in New York. It sits across the Croton River near Croton-on-Hudson. This structure forms the New Croton Reservoir, which is a vital part of the New York City water supply system. A masonry gravity dam is a structure built from stone or concrete. It uses its immense weight to resist the pressure of the water pushing against it.

To build such a large structure, engineers had to change how the river flowed. They could not build the dam while the river was running through the site. First, workers dug a crescent-shaped canal into a hill on the north side of the river. They secured this canal with a masonry retaining wall. They also built temporary dams to direct the water elsewhere. This allowed them to pump the riverbed dry so construction could begin on the actual site.

This dam was designed by Alphonse Fteley, who lived from 1837 to 1903. Construction officially began in 1892 at a site owned by A.B. Cornell. This site was downstream from the original Croton Dam, which was eventually submerged by the new reservoir. The project was a huge undertaking that lasted many years. Initial construction took eight years, but repairs and modifications continued for another six. By the time it was completed in 1906, it was the tallest dam in the world.

The workforce required to complete this project was very diverse. The crew included laborers and stonemasons who had worked on the original dam built decades earlier. John B. Goldsborough served as the superintendent of excavations and hiring. He even recruited skilled stonemasons from southern Italy to move to New York for the job. Building the dam was not always easy, as workers faced difficult conditions. In 1900, a silent film called The Croton Dam Strike was released to show the labor and management problems occurring at the site.

The physical scale of the New Croton Dam is truly impressive. The structure contains 650,000 cubic yards of masonry. Its foundation is built to extend below the bed of the river for stability. The dam and its spillway together reach a total length of 1,100 feet. The spillway itself is 500 feet long. When full, the reservoir can impound up to 7 billion gallons of water. While this is a large amount, it is only a small fraction of the total New York City water storage capacity of 11 billion gallons.

Engineers also monitor how much water moves through the dam during heavy weather. The dam features a spillway to manage excess water. For example, during Hurricane Ida in 2021, the dam saw water over the spillway. The average daily discharge during that event was 10,100 cubic feet per second. The highest recorded discharge since 1933 occurred on October 16, 1955. During that time, dual hurricanes named Connie and Diane caused a discharge of 33,000 cubic feet per second.

Today, the area around the dam serves many different purposes. The reservoir supplies water through a new aqueduct to the Jerome Park Reservoir in the north Bronx. The dam also provides space for recreation and nature. People can visit the Teatown Lake Reservation or Croton Point Park nearby. Hikers and bikers use the Old Croton Trail, which follows the route of the Old Croton Aqueduct. The trail has an endpoint located near the base of the dam.