| Saville Dam | |
|---|---|
 Barkhamsted Reservoir, Saville Dam | |
  Saville Dam Location of Saville Dam in Connecticut | |
| Location | Barkhamsted, ConnecticutHartland, Connecticut |
| Coordinates | 41°54′36″N72°57′17″W / 41.91000°N 72.95472°W /41.91000; -72.95472 |
| Opening date | 1940 |
| Operator | Metropolitan District Commission |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Farmington River (Eastern branch) |
| Height | 135 feet (41 m) |
| Length | 1,950 feet (590 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Barkhamsted Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 36.8 billion US gallons (139,000,000 m3) |
| Catchment area | 53.8 square miles (139 km2) |
| Surface area | 4.2 square miles (11 km2) |
Saville Dam is an earthenembankment dam withmasonry work on the eastern branch of theFarmington River in southwesternBarkhamsted, Connecticut and centralHartland, Connecticut, dividing the latter into two villages along its hilltops, East and West Hartland. Thedam is 135 ft. (41 m) tall and 1,950 ft. (590 m) long and has an uncontrolledspillway on its western portion. It creates the Barkhamsted Reservoir which has a volume of 36.8 billion US gallons (139,000,000 m3) and is the primary water source forHartford, Connecticut.Connecticut Route 318, also known as Saville Dam Road, crosses over the top of the dam.
In 1927, theMetropolitan District Commission began to purchase land in the present-day footprint of the dam and reservoir. Construction of the dam commenced in 1936 while land to the north was being stripped of lumber and buildings.
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Before the Metropolitan District Commission named the Saville Dam in 1940 in honor of its chiefengineer, Caleb Mills Saville, it was referred to as the Bill's Brook Dam after the brook that ran near the site at the time.
The foundations for "Bill's Brook Dam" and the diversion tunnel for the East Branch of the Farmington River were completed in August 1934. Subsequently, the East Branch was diverted into the concrete conduit at the bottom of the Bill's Brook Dam site. The dam was completed in May 1940, at a total cost for dam and reservoir of $10M.[1]
Although the Saville Dam was completed in 1940, it was not until 1948 that the Barkhamsted Reservoir finally filled to capacity. The Farmington River East Branch is impounded for nearly 8 miles (13 km) behind the dam, with the northernmost open waters of Barkhamsted Reservoir terminating inHartland, Connecticut just south of theMassachusetts border.[2][3]
The reservoir flooded many buildings and farms of Barkhamsted, including the village ofBarkhamsted Hollow.[4] The village of Barkhamsted Center, partially flooded, lies just to the west of the reservoir. Its remaining buildings are part of theBarkhamsted Center Historic District, listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
