Bright Star Park Trail

Bright Star Park Trail. The Stonewall Dam. , The Stonewall Dam is located on the West Fork River, three miles south of the county seat at Weston, West Virginia and 73 miles upstream from the river's mouth. From its source in Lewis and Upshur Counties, the West Fork River flows northward for 98.7 miles to Fairmont, West Virginia. There it joins the Tygart River to form the Monongahela River., The Stonewall Jackson Dam, History , The Stonewall Dam project broke ground in 1983. The dam is one of ten reservoir dams found throughout the state of West Virginia built by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The dams are broken into three different districts: Huntington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. The Huntington District dams are Burnsville, Sutton, Summersville, Bluestone, R.D. Bailey, East Lynn, and Beech Fork. The Baltimore District has the Jennings Randolph Dam, and the Pittsburgh District has Tygart and Stonewall dams. The construction of the Stonewall Dam was done to control the flooding downstream as the case is with most dams. The main tributary that feeds the lake is the West Fork River. Other smaller tributaries include Skin Creek and Little Skin Creek, which flows into Skin Creek. For this project, the federal government had to purchase land. This was done through a process known as land acquisition. In many cases, unfortunately, the use of eminent domain is exercised by the federal government. This is a term used to describe the governments right to force land sell for the betterment of the country. A fair market price was determined and used to purchase the land. As with many land acquisitions using right of eminent domain, many of the local residences were not happy about the changes. However, once the dam was put into operation, towns, like Weston, benefitted in flood reduction, water quality improvement for water plants and aquatic life, water storage available during drought, and recreational/employment opportunities for the community. All total, the project area was 20,451 acres including land and water. The land alone included approximately 19,500 acres. Of the land that was taken, 449 acres were classified as rural-farm home sites, 3,063 acres was cropland, 5,498 acres was pastureland, 9,143 acres was woodland, and 1,255 acres was old field. The project was completed in 1986 and dedicated in 1988., Engineering/Technology , The ten reservoir dams in the state are either earthen dams, earthen and rolled rock dams, or concrete gravity dams such as Stonewall Dam. Stonewall Dam uses gravity and abutments that cut into the hillside to keep it in place. The dam is 620 feet wide at the top and 113 feet wide at its base. The top of the dam is 1,102 feet above sea level. To build the Stonewall Dam it took about 107,000 cubic yards of concrete. The dam releases water at different speeds, at different times of the year. In the summer months (March to July), the pool has the water level of the lake at 1,072.5 feet above sea level. In the winter months (August to February), the water level dropped to about 1067.5 feet above sea level. At the dam's full pool, the lakes water level can be 1,082 feet above sea level. Anything above this will start to flow out the uncontrolled spillway on the dam. The lake at summer pool covers an area of about 2,650 acres. At full pool, the lake area is 3,650 acres. The Stonewall Dam contains 101.8 square miles of drainage area. This drainage area includes all the rivers, creeks, and watersheds throughout the project area., DAM STATISTICS. , Project Area 20,451 acres , Drainage Area Above Dam 101.8 square miles , Construction Cost $208 Million , Type of Structure Concrete Gravity with an Uncontrolled Center Spillway , Height Above Streambed 95 ft. , Length 620 ft. , Width at Base 113 ft. , Volume of Concrete 107,550 Cubic Yards , Outlet Works Three 3.5'x7' Flood Control Sluices and two 2.5'x4' Water Quality Control Sluices, LAKE STATISTICS. , Length at Normal Pool 26 Miles , Shoreline at Normal Pool 82 Miles , Area at Maximum 3,470 surface acres , Area at Normal (summer pool) 2,650 surface acres Maximum: 1,082 Ft. , Elevation (feet above National Geodetic Vertical Detum Normal: 1,073.2 Ft. Streambed at Dam: 1,007 Ft., PLEASE NOTE: The lake is public property. It is illegal to feed the wildlife. Those animals that become dependent on feedings will have to be removed from the area. Help us maintain this beautiful environment. Leave no trash when you are done.