Victoria Dam

Photos

MI-49-1

DAM!

No, it isn't a bridge, but anyone who appreciates quality engineering and interesting design will be interested in this particular dam, that was located in Michigan's Upper Peninsula on the Ontonagon River. In 1991, the dam was partially destroyed and inundated by a new dam. Today, it serves as habitat for several species of fish.

Photo taken by Eric Munch, April 1991, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #121548

Map

Maps and Databases

Facts

Overview

Inundated dam under Ontanagon River near Rockland

Location

Rockland, Ontonagon County, Michigan

Status

Inundated

History

Built 1929-1931; Innundated 1996

Builder

- Price Brothers Co. of Lansing, Michigan

Design

"The reinforced concrete, multiple-arch buttressed dam was never a very common type in the United States, and it was particularly uncommon in the eastern half of the country. Very few dams of this type were built after 1930. Victoria Dam was the best, largest example of the multiple-arch dam in Michigan.

"In 1991, [dam] to be partially demolished and the remainder submerged.

"This documentation was undertaken in the summer of 1991, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) required the Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) to mitigate the adveerse effects of a project to replace the multiple-arch section of Victoria Dam. UPPCO engaged Stone & Webster Michigan, Inc. to provide the required documentation."

Larry D. Lankton, Historical Consultant, Houghton, Michigan

For more about the Victoria Dam and to see a photo of the (now destroyed) Ontonagon Bridge, visit the Copper Country Website.
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Approximate latitude, longitude

+46.68700, -89.22980 (decimal degrees)
46°41'13" N, 89°13'47" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

16/329493/5172797 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Rockland

Inventory number

BH 37202 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

November 18, 2009: Updated by J.R. Manning: Updated Status
August 16, 2008: Added by J.R. Manning

Sources

J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
HAER MI-49 - Victoria Dam, West branch of Ontonagon River, 4.5 miles southwest of Rockland, Rockland vicinity, Ontonagon County, MI