Max Starke Dam -- Marble Falls TX
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Benchmark Blasterz
N 30° 33.355 W 098° 15.431
14R E 571241 N 3380622
Max Starke Dam, one of several Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) hydroelectric dams in the Highland Lakes region of Texas, creates Lake Marble Falls.
Waymark Code: WMH3M5
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member fi67
Views: 8

Max Starke Dam was built between 1949 and 1951 to create hydro-electric power for the cities served by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Photo credits for the 1950 and 1951 constriction photos belong to the LCRA, as does the aerial photo of the dam and powerhouse.

You can only view the dam (via land) from Max Starke Dam Road. Parking coordinates are N 30 33.275 W 098 15.401

LCRA is MUCH more than just a power company. They are intertwined in nearly every city in Central Texas and the Hill Country: (visit link)

"LCRA plays a variety of roles in Central Texas: delivering electricity, managing the water supply and environment of the lower Colorado River basin, providing public recreation areas, and supporting community and economic development.

LCRA is the primary wholesale provider of reliable, competitively priced electricity in Central Texas. It's been that way since 1937.

By supplying wholesale power to 42 city-owned utilities and electric cooperatives and one former co-op, LCRA serves more than 1.1 million people in one of the nation's fastest growing regions, helping fuel the growth of rural communities, towns and cities.

LCRA also supplies electric transmission services through an affiliate, LCRA Transmission Services Corporation, which serves the traditional service territory and other areas within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region." [end]

More specific information on Max Starke dam can be found here: (visit link)

"Smallest Highland Lakes dam
Starcke Dam and Lake Marble Falls
Ten floodgates now modernized

Starcke Dam, owned by LCRA, creates Lake Marble Falls.

Starcke Dam has the distinction of being the smallest in the Highland Lakes chain and the last one completed. The lake and dam were constructed from 1949 to 1951 for hydroelectricity. Originally named Marble Falls, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, LCRA's second general manager. He served from 1940 to 1955.

LCRA has replaced the dam's 50-year-old "bear trap" floodgates with hydraulic gates.

FYI on Max Starke Dam:

Location: Burnet County, 382 river miles from the Gulf of Mexico
Year built: 1949 to 1951
Dam dimensions:
98.8 feet high,
859.5 feet long
Primary purpose: Hydroelectric power
Generating capacity: 41.4 megawatts
Top of dam: 738 feet above msl
Floodgates: 10
Total discharge capacity: 109,200 cubic feet per second (cfs):
•10 floodgates @ 10,100 cfs each
•2 turbines @ 4,100 cfs each

Original name: Marble Falls Dam" [end]

From HydroWorld Magazine 29 Dec 2008: (visit link)

Texas Authority expands capacity of 34-MW Max Starke

"The Lower Colorado River Authority reports it has added a total of 8.8 MW to its 34-MW Max Starcke Dam project on the Colorado River in Texas through a $24.9 million rehabilitation program.

LCRA said it boosted the capacity of each of two 17-MW units to 21.4 MW, an increase of nearly 26 percent. It declared the work substantially complete in August.

Contractors involved in the program included Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, which designed and provided new stainless Kaplan turbine runners. National Electric Coil installed new generator windings.

The program also included mechanical overhauls, installation of new unit circuit breakers and transformers, rehabilitation of head gates, and modernization of protection and control systems.

LCRA staff performed labor for the turbine work and also completed a total electrical rehabilitation of the entire plant, including new switchgear and controls.

Max Starcke powerhouse began operation in 1951."

Look here for the Handbook of Texas online biography of Max Starke, the namesake of the dam: (visit link)
Operational: yes

Type of power station: Conventional (dams)

Type of turbine: Kaplan

Operator: Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA)

Visitor center: no

Date built: 01/01/1951

Generation capacity: 41.4 MW

Visit Instructions:
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Recent Visits/Logs:
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Tygress visited Max Starke Dam -- Marble Falls TX 07/14/2013 Tygress visited it
Benchmark Blasterz visited Max Starke Dam -- Marble Falls TX 04/14/2013 Benchmark Blasterz visited it

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