Spillway facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

A spillway is a construction to release extra water from a dam, in a way that this water does not cause damage. Each dam has a maximum capacity. Water that is more than this capacity cannot be stored, and has to be released. A spillway allows to do this in a safe way.

Gallery

Outlet-type spillway when in use
Outlet-type, unused
Overflow type
Looking down an overflow spillway
Overflow type

Images for kids

Cross-section of typical spillway with Tainter gates
A stepped chute baffled spillway of the Yeoman Hey Reservoir in the Peak District in England.
Bell-mouth spillway of Hungry Horse Dam in operation.
A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation type-III stilling basin
A labyrinth spillway and a fish ladder (left) of the Hope Mills Dam in North Carolina
Spillway with flip bucket at Burdekin Dam
Water enters Hoover Dam's Arizona side channel drum-gate spillway (left) during the 1983 floods
A labyrinth spillway entrance (bottom) at the Ute Dam in New Mexico
An ogee-type spillway at the Crystal Dam in Colorado
An emergency spillway with fuse plug (bottom) and an auxiliary ogee spillway (top) at New Waddell Dam
Semicircular spillways of Ohzuchi Dam (Shiga Pref., Japan)
Looking down into the bell mouth spillway at Llyn Celyn
Low-height spillway of Bonneville Dam with sluice gates
A drop inlet in use at Horse Mesa Dam in Arizona, circa 1940
The Geehi Dam spillway has never seen water as of March 2019

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Spillway Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.