Conowingo Dam

Near its mouth, the Susquehanna River drops off about 90 feet. In the beginning of this century the Philadelphia Electric Company saw a way to take advantage of these falls. In 1926 construction began on the Conowingo Dam and Power Plant. When designing the dam, the engineers had to take in to account the large variation in the river’s flow. Half of its length acts as a spillway in case of large floods. The top was surfaced with a roadbed to replace the Baltimore Pike Bridge demolished for the dam. Route 1 now crosses the Susquehanna at Conowingo. The dam is operated today by the Susquehanna Electric Company and creates almost two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.

 

Facts and Figures

Directions
Length: 1 mile

Height: 105 ft

Capacity: 512, 00 kilowatts

11 generators

Material: 700,000 cubic yards of concrete
  • Take I-95 to exit 85.
  • Follow MD 22 north to MD 136.
  • Continue to US Route 1 north.
  • This route will cross the Susquehanna on the Conowingo Dam

Map

 

References:

Conowingo Dam, Pratt Vertical file