Hungry Horse Dam, Concrete arch dam in Flathead County, United States.
Hungry Horse Dam is a 172-metre-high arch-gravity dam of 2.4 million cubic metres of concrete, built in a narrow gorge on the South Fork Flathead River in Flathead National Forest. Its crest carries a road, and a concrete and steel powerhouse 120 metres long stands across the river at the downstream toe, holding four generators. The reservoir behind it runs 55 kilometres up the valley.
Work started in 1948 and required building an entire settlement with housing, stores, and medical facilities for the workers. The project reached completion in 1953, helping to secure electricity supply for western Montana.
The name comes from two freight horses that strayed from a logging camp in the winter of 1900 and returned in spring, gaunt but alive. The reservoir and the surrounding Flathead National Forest land take that name, and the entrance road to the dam begins in the small community of Hungry Horse.
The site sits in a remote mountain area, so bring weather-appropriate clothing and enough food and water for the visit. During winter, access roads may close or become difficult to navigate.
The overflow structure takes the form of a morning glory design and ranks as the tallest of its kind anywhere in the world. Water drops nearly 150 meters (490 feet) through a vertical shaft into the depths below.
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