Goodnough Dike facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Goodnough Dike |
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The wet side
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| Official name | Goodnough Dike |
| Location | Ware, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°17′51″N 72°17′56″W / 42.29750°N 72.29889°W |
| Construction began | 1933 |
| Opening date | 1938 |
| Operator(s) | MWRA |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Beaver Brook |
| Height | 264 ft (80.47 m) |
| Length | 2,140 ft (652.3 m) |
| Width (base) | 878 ft (267.61 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Quabbin Reservoir |
The Goodnough Dike is a really important dam located at the southeastern end of the Quabbin Reservoir. The Quabbin Reservoir is the biggest body of water in Massachusetts. This dam helps to hold back the waters of Beaver Brook.
The Goodnough Dike is not as big as the Winsor Dam, but it is just as important. Both dams work together to hold the huge amount of water in the Quabbin Reservoir. This water is a major part of the drinking water supply for the city of Boston. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority takes care of this important dam.
Building the Goodnough Dike
The Goodnough Dike was built between 1933 and 1938. It is a very wide and tall structure. At the top, the dam is about 35 feet (10.67 meters) wide. At its base, it spreads out to about 878 feet (267.61 meters) wide.
The dam stands about 264 feet (80.47 meters) tall from the bedrock below. It rises about 135 feet (41.15 meters) above the original Beaver Brook. Building it required moving about 2.5 million cubic yards of earth and rock.
Who Was Goodnough Dike Named After?
The dam was named after X. Henry Goodnough. He was the head of the Boston Metropolitan Water and Sewer Board in 1921. This board was in charge of Boston's water system.
Sometimes, people call this dam the Quabbin Dike. However, its official name has always been Goodnough Dike. You can still see its original name on plaques and signs at the Quabbin Reservoir. Frank E. Winsor was the chief engineer for the project. He helped design and build the Goodnough Dike, the Winsor Dam, and the entire Quabbin Reservoir.
The Amazing Quabbin Reservoir
The Quabbin Reservoir is one of the largest man-made public water supplies in the United States. It was created in the 1930s. Workers built two huge earthen dams: the Winsor Dam and the Goodnough Dike.
The reservoir gets its water mainly from the Swift River. Sometimes, it also gets water from the Ware River. To create this massive reservoir, four towns in the Swift River Valley had to be flooded. Building the Quabbin Reservoir was a huge engineering challenge.
Today, Quabbin is one of the largest water supplies in the world that doesn't need to be filtered. The reservoir is about 18 miles (28.96 kilometers) long. It has 181 miles (291.23 kilometers) of shoreline, including 61 miles (98.15 kilometers) around its 60 islands. When it's full, the reservoir holds about 412 billion US gallons (1.56 billion cubic meters) of water.
