Golden
Spread Chapter
SWCS
Golden
Spread Chapter
Fall
1999 Chapter meeting at Sanford dam near Fritch, Texas.
Sanford dam retains Lake Meredith, which supplies water
to communities from Perryton to La Mesa in the Texas Panhandle.
Judy Tolk, Chapter President-elect, tries one of the great
hamburgers supplied by President Bill Watson and his wife.
View north along the dam from the bridge leading to the
glory hole.
View across the stilling basin below the dam to the red
beds covered with caprock talus.
The glory hole is a gated, six-sided spillway reached by a bridge
from the road crossing the dam.
Crossing the bridge to the glory hole was a little scary
for some, but the view from on top was great. The handwheels supplement
the electric drives that operate the spillway gates.
The pump room at the base of the dam (lower side) was
roaring, with three of five huge pumps on operation.
After descending a vertical ladder, we followed the tunnel
back to the center of the dam. The larger pipe is 8 feet in diameter
At the inner end of the tunnel we ascended
another vertical ladder and entered the "dome"
room where Mr. Reggie ?, our guide, concluded
the tour by turning the lights out!
A little sensory deprivation experiment.
The dome houses the head of a huge gate valve
that controls flow in the eight foot
diameter pipe feeding the pumps.
