Mansfield Dam

Mansfield Dam is a dam located across a canyon at Marshall Ford on the Colorado River, 13mi northwest of Austin, Texas. The groundbreaking ceremony occurred on February 19, 1937, with United States Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes attending. The dam was a joint project by the Lower Colorado River Authority and the United States Bureau of Reclamation, with the company Brown and Root the prime contractor headed by James E. Walters, Sr. The dam was completed in 1941. Originally called Marshall Ford Dam, the name was changed in 1941 in honor of United States Representative J.J. Mansfield. The reservoir behind Mansfield Dam is named Lake Travis. The dam is owned and operated by the LCRA. Mansfield Dam is 278ft high, 7089ft long, and 213ft thick at the base. The concrete gravity dam with embankment wings and saddle dikes was designed to control flooding; to store 1.4 km³ of water; and to generate hydroelectric power . The Spillway Elevation is 714 feet above MSL. LCRA begins to open floods gates when water reaches 681 feet above MSL.