FIRST Stone Arch Dam in North America - Jones Falls, Ontario
Posted by: 
model12
N 44° 32.904 W 076° 14.267
18T E 401680 N 4933530
Jones Falls Dam is a dam on the Rideau Canal located in Rideau Lakes, Ontario, Canada, that was built in 1829-1830, it was the highest stone arch dam in North America at that time, at 60 feet high by 350 feet long.
Waymark Code: WMBHY2
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 05/24/2011
Views: 8
The dam was built by John Redpath and Thomas McKay. When completed in 1832, the Jones Falls dam was the largest dam in North America, a big accomplishment in engineering. In order to keep the water in control during construction, two sluices, artificial channels for conducting water, were kept open in the dam. The first was near the base of the dam on its east side. A second sluice was put in on the west side of the dam, about 20 feet (6 metres) above the base.
At Jones Falls, boats rise and fall almost 60 feet via a set of four canal locks, and a dam, nicknamed the Whispering Dam, which holds back the 60 feet of water. The dam is approximately 360 feet long, 60 feet (18 m) high and 27 feet (8 m) thick at the base. It was built with large sandstone blocks that were hauled by horse-teams to and shaped on site. No mortar or cement was used in this dam. The blocks were set in a giant arch, with the pressure of the water behind the dam pushing the perfectly-dressed blocks together, like an arch used in building structures.
Plaque text reads;
John Redpath was contracted in 1827 to build the locks and dam at Jones Falls. He built this inverted keystone arch dam, one of the first arch dams constructed in North America, to flood the rapids that fell 60 feet through a gorge into Whitefish Lake. Sixty-one feet high and 350 feet long, it was the highest dam in North America and the third largest in the world at it's completion in 1831.
(excerpted)
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1830
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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