Pit 3 Dam


Pit-3 Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Pit River in northern California in the United States. It forms Lake Britton, and is owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Specifications

Pit 3 is a curved concrete gravity dam with a height of and length of. The dam has a gated spillway with three steel gates and three inflatable rubber gates. An intake structure at the dam diverts water into a diameter, long tunnel that connects to the Pit 3 hydroelectric plant. There are three 23.3 MW generators, for a total capacity of 69.9 MW.
Lake Britton, formerly known as Pit 3 Reservoir, has a maximum water level of ; however, the lake is usually kept below to avoid flooding parts of McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park. The gross storage capacity is and the usable storage is.
The lake level changes on a weekly basis with greater drawdowns during the weekdays for power generation, and refilling on the weekends. In addition to generating power at the Pit 3 hydroelectric station, the reservoir also helps regulate water flowing through the Pit 4 and Pit 5 stations downstream.
The dam is the place where Pacific Crest Trail crosses the Pit River.

History

Construction was completed in 1925.