EC54PM
TO PERFORM AND LOG THIS EarthCache:
QUESTIONS:
To "find / register" this cache must: prove that visited the site and answer the following questions by sending an email / message Geocaching, with answers (in Portuguese or in English, only) to our profile.
Only later, sending the answers, and as the "guidelines" for EarthCaches should make your registration! They will be removed from all records that do not meet these requirements.
1. When you arrive at the coordinates, you will be standing on Tionesta Dam, which impounds Tionesta Creek forming Tionesta Lake. Answer the following questions based on the two nearby informational signs.
a. How much wider is the dam at the bottom than at the top?
b. What would your elevation be if you were standing on the bedrock at the bottom of the dam?
HINT Subtract height from current elevation
c. How long is Tionesta Lake?
d. How far away is the Allegheny River?
2. Observe the land and water in front of you. Then, use the coordinates in Google Earth and observe the land and water. If Tionesta Dam had not been built, describe what changes to the land and water you would be observing. Take note especially what flooding would do to downriver areas.
NOTE: You can also get the information needed for question 2 by visiting the Information Center located at 477 Spillway Rd - Tionesta, PA 16353-9613 - (814) 755-3512 - Open 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays during the summer months.
3. Look at the map. There are five other waterways that flow into the Allegheny River before it connects with the Ohio River. Using the internet, are there dams on these waterways? Where are they located?
4.
TASK (not optional): You must take a picture of yourself, where do you show up, (or with a paper / plaque with your geocaching nickname and the date of the visit) and that proves your presence in the GZ of this EC - no spoilers please. This photo must be placed in your log or sent by email or Geocaching messaging system, to the owner!
We do not respond to your touch, unless there is a "problem" with their answers or register.
FLOOD CONTROL
The watershed program helps communities and rural areas reduce flooding and collect sediment. In addition to flood control, the lakes formed by the dams provide millions of dollars in benefits each year for recreation, municipal water supplies, irrigation and fish and wildlife habitat.
The concept of watershed projects is simple. Upstream flood control dams are built across small tributaries to a larger steam to temporarily trap and store water runoff after heavy rainstorms. The dams slowly release the water over a period of several days through a pipe in the dam. This reduces the amount of water that reaches the main water course immediately after a rain, reducing flooding downstream. Watershed projects consist of earthen dams constructed on tributaries to a river. The number of dams built in a watershed varies depending on the size of the watershed.
During most periods of the year the dams maintain a water level known as the permanent pool. The level of water is controlled by the elevation of the principal spillway in front of the dam. During heavy rainfall events water will back up, covering a larger area of land known as the flood pool. This water will recede after a few days as water is released through the pipe.
ALLEGHENY RIVER
The Allegheny River begins as a spring in a farmer's field off of State Route 49, a couple of miles east of the little town of Colesburg, Pennsylvania, and nine miles from Coudersport, Pennsylvania, in the upper Appalachian Mountains of northern Pennsylvania. A roadside marker erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marks the spot.
The river starts its long journey flowing from Colesburg, then west to Couderspot, before turning north, making a large U-shape loop and entering the state of New York. It flows passed the city of Olean, New York, the town of Allegany, New York and continues west to Salamanca, New York. Just west of Salamanca, the river again makes a loop, and eventually flows into the Allegheny Reservoir formed by Kinzua Dam near Warren, Pennsylvania.
From there it turns southward through second-growth forests. On its way south the river drains most of the highland streams north and east of Pittsburgh. It runs through scenic open country and woods with few towns, down to its urbanized last 20 miles. The river joins the Monongahela at Pittsburgh's Point State Park to form the 981-mile-long Ohio River. At Cairo, Ill. it flows into the mighty Mississippi River.
TIONESTA DAM
In the 1930′s, in an effort to control flooding downriver on the Allegheny, Tionesta Creek was dammed forming Tionesta Lake. Tionesta Dam is a rolled earth fill dam with an impervious core. The embankment rises ???? feet above the stream bed, has a top length of ???? feet and a base width of approximately ???? feet. An uncontrolled saddle spillway is adjacent to the dam. This reservoir project is part of the flood control system operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers for the Allegheny and Upper Ohio Rivers. The dam is located on Tionesta Creek, ???? miles above its confluence with the Allegheny River. The dam and reservoir lie entirely within Forest County, PA.
RESOURCES
http://www.okcc.state.ok.us/Publications/How_A_Small_Flood_Control_Dam_Works.pdf
http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/tionesta.htm
http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/nav/arback.htm
http://www.erh.noaa.gov/pbz/hydro.htm
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/reports/2012region/Pitts-Locks-Dams.pdf
http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=PAARTI&CU_ID=1
