Harnessing the River

Harnessing the River. . You are walking across the top of the remains of an adjustable dam constructed by the Virginia Electric Power Company in 1901 to divert water into the Haxall Canal., The canal powered large water-driven machines under the 12th Street Power Station until it was decommissioned in 1968. The power station also burned coal when the flow of the river was unreliable., The mechanism in the bench on this overlook was part of the hoist that operated the dam's gates, and was left on the structure since it was abandoned in 1968., The dam changed over time, as successive floods would wash away equipment. You can see the part of the dam machinery and the rails it traveled on at the entrance to the bridge on Brown's Island., The dam gates (Fig. 1) were curved, radial gates that rotated on pin bearings embedded in the concrete piers. When the gate was closed (Fig. 2), water collected on the upstream side and fed into the canal. When the gate was raised by the hoist, the rush of the river passing underneath helped to open and close the gate., (captions) , Early image of Brown’s Island Dam. Photo courtesy of The Valentine., Hoist mechanism that is now part of the bench on the abandoned structure, 2013. Photo courtesy of T. Tyler Potterfield., Early view of the 12th Street Power Station. Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs, Library of Virginia., VEPCO Business Women’s Club inspecting 12th Street Power Station’s No5 Steam Turbine, May 1940. Photo courtesy of Prints and Photographs, Library of Virginia.