Madden Dam

9°12′40″N 79°36′59″W / 9.21111°N 79.61639°W / 9.21111; -79.61639Opening date1935Dam and spillwaysHeight67 m (220 ft)Length274 m (899 ft)ReservoirCreatesLake AlajuelaPower StationCommission date1935Turbines3 x 12 MW (16,000 hp) Francis-typeInstalled capacity36 MW (48,000 hp)^[1]

Madden Dam, completed in 1935, impounds the Chagres River in Panama to form Lake Alajuela, a reservoir that is an essential part of the Panama Canal watershed. The lake has a maximum level of 250 feet (76 m) above sea level. It can store one third of the canal's annual water requirements for the operation of the locks. Since the reservoir is not part of the navigational route, there are fewer restrictions on its water level.

The Madden Dam was built to prevent the occasionally torrential flow of the once wild Chagres River, which flows into the navigational route of Gatun Lake, and to control the water level of the lake during the dry season. The river's unruly flow posed a major challenge to the construction of the Panama Canal, which was originally addressed by the construction of Gatun Dam. Water from the dam's reservoir is also used to generate hydroelectric power and to supply Panama City's fresh water. When completed, the dam and the reservoir behind it were named for the late US Representative Martin B. Madden (R-Illinois).^{[citation needed]} The reservoir was renamed Lake Alajuela after the Canal Zone reverted to Panamanian control at the end of 1999.^{[citation needed][2]}

See also

• List of power stations in Panama

References

ManagementStructuresLocations

Atlantic side	Colón Arco Iris Cristóbal port Enrique Adolfo Jiménez Airport Limon Bay Gatún
Passage	Gatun Lake Culebra Cut
Pacific side	Balboa Albrook Airport Gamboa Panama City

ExpansionHistory

People	Philippe Bunau-Varilla Ephraim S. Claybourn John G. Claybourn William Nelson Cromwell David du Bose Gaillard George Washington Goethals William Crawford Gorgas Ferdinand de Lesseps John Frank Stevens
Construction	1903 Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty 1921 Thomson–Urrutia Treaty Isthmian Canal Commission (1904–1906) Health measures Panama Canal Museum Box 25
US Canal Zone (1904–1979/99)	1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties
Former US military installations	Airfields Albrook AFB France Field Howard AFB Forts Amador Clayton Davis De Lesseps Grant Gulick Kobbe Randolph Sherman Ports Coco Solo PSA Panama International Terminal Radio Galeta Island Balboa Naval Station Education Balboa High School