Today we are visiting the Mansfield Dam, which is close to the neighborhood. Mansfield Dam is 278 feet (85 m) high, 7,089 feet (2 km) long, and 213 feet (65 m) thick at the base. The concrete gravity dam was designed to control flooding. Built on the Colorado River by the Lower Colorado River Authority it stores 369 billion US gallons of water and generates 108 megawatts of power. The lake formed by the dam is Lake Travis. The Spillway Elevation is 714 feet above sea level. LCRA begins to open floods gates when water reaches 681 feet above sea level. At 681 feet above MSL, discharge capacity exceeds 130,000 cubic feet per second as the lake rises. Construction was begun in 1937 and completed in 1941. It is named after Joseph Mansfield who was in the house of Representatives for thirty years and chaired the Rivers Committee.
I hope you like the tour.
A monument to Joseph Mansfield.
I had not thought of bringing my drone, but it would have been in vain had I thought of it.
There was a highway that went across the top of the dam. Traffic got too heavy for these two lanes, so another bridge was built.
I would have loved to get a shot up and down the river, but no trespassing.
Razor wire and I don’t get along so I’ll heed the sign.
A shot of the dam, river, and highway bridge.
A little bit of a view of Lake Travis formed by the dam.
A turbine fan on display. It stands about eight feet tall.
A different view of the dam to give you an idea of the expanse.
This is a shot from a road that runs below the Dam. This was as close as I could get.
Here is what the Colorado River looks like downstream from the dam. The water flows out of one spillway and continues down the river. On the banks is a residential area with water access points. That is a group of kayakers in the background.
The river, dam, duck, man, and his dog
I took this shot since it seemed odd to me that that guy had not jumped from the bridge. If you are going to violate one rule, why not break them all?
Thank you for coming along.
Fiction Favorites 
Beautiful, John. Your photos remind me a lot of our area, which also has a dam and spillway. Thank you for this glimpse of your surroundings. 🙂
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I’ve always been fascinated by dams…the engineering involved amazed me. Thanks for sharing these photos, John. I love your closing line! Happy Sunday!
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Thank you, Jill. I love dams too. All that water sitting there way above the lower land is fascinating to me.
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Thanks for taking us along today, John. You picked a great area to move to.
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We think so too, GP. Thank you.
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Thanks for the tour, John. That’s a pretty big dam. I wish you were allowed to walk across.
Two questions, 1) does you drone know the places it can’t fly? I know some do. 2) Are the ducks allowed to jump from the bridge?
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My drone is very inexpensive. The only thing it knows is to rush to meet the ground. Ducks are allowed to jump, dive, or fly from the bridge since there is no way to give them a citation. Thanks, Dan
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I was watching a guy at Great River Park taking photos of the Hartford skyline via drone. He was pointing to all the places we could see from the dock, but that the drone wouldn’t fly. I really liked the drone, but I wonder if I could even practice in my own yard, since we’re so close to BDL.
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I’m not sure either. I think you have to notify the FAA.
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Do ducks actually jump? We need a blog entry devoted solely to the topic. 🙂
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Of course they jump. It is an event in the quacker olympics
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You could make a killer zombie film at the Mansfield Dam, John.
Thank you for the very cool and clever addition to this series.
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The overcast sky added a little to the apocalypse feel. You are very perceptive since I was feeling the same when I was there.
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Interesting place, dear John. I liked the last photo. Indeed! Why not to jump into the river while fishing for a nice swim? 🙂
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Hahaha. Why not indeed.
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🙂
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I think he’d scare the fish if he jumped, so he’d ruin his first choice. What’s the difference between unmanned aircraft and drones?
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No difference. As long as a human is not on board it is unmanned or unwomaned. 😀
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Love the photo of the man fishing by the “No Fishing” sign. That’s civil disobedience at its finest — almost as good as the woman sitting beneath the “NO CELLPHONES” sign at my doctor’s office, talking on her cell phone.
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I know right. You would not believe the number of signs stenciled on the bridge as well. This guy litters as well. (I’m sure of it)
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Looks very lonely…like the bridge from a dystopian novel 🙂
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I think the overcast sky added to that feeling of loneliness. Thanks, Victoria Ray.
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And thank you for such amazing review! 📚💙💙💙🕺🕺🕺
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All true. Love the way you put things together.
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Great pictures, John. It must be quite a sight during heavy rains. 🙂 — Suzanne
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Thank you, Suzanne. I went by it once when the rains were heavy and only two of the twenty four spillways were open.
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Great shots, John.
I wonder if they shot The Walking Dead at that particular damn… It sure looks like the one in the show…
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Fear of the Waling Dead, season three was shot at the Gonzales Dam in Baja Mexico.
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I pressed send, realizing I wanted to say Fear the Walking Dead!
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We are on the same page except I left out a “k” on walking.
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So. We’re good!!
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Are always good.
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😉
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Fun tour of the dam, John. We have a small drone but the trees make it hard to use at home.
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Yes. Trees are a problem for sure. Line of sight gets a little difficult on landings.
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Pretty impressive dam, John. I’d never imagined a dam where you live!
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Me either.Lake Travis is manmade so it does make sense.
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Perhaps the guy who is breaking the rules on the bridge plans to jump if and when he catches something that’s too big to reel in. 😎
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Hahaha. That would be something to see. Thanks, Ron.
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so many rules so many rule breakers… well one… ha! You have to love Texas; when do you guys declare UDI?
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You’ll have to explain UDI. I only know Unique Device Identification for medical devices.
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Oh soz. When the white minority government of Southern Rhodesia as was, before it became Zimbabwe, sought independence from Britain in 1965 it issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence ..
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Yeah, Texas issued one like it in 1836 and became a republic.
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Thanks for an interesting tour, John. I find the concept behind dams fascinating — to hole up all that water, then to release it at the right time. Man’s ingenuity, right?!
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I’ve never been there. Only to Lake Buchanan and its dam.
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I think so too, Debbie. Thank you.
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This was a surprise tour, John. Very cool. I remember being with my mother’s side of the family on my grandfather’s little fishing boat. He decided to show us what it was like to go through the locks on a dam on the Tennessee river. The water got really choppy (I can’t remember if another boat came speeding by or what) and the front half of our little boat tipped under water for a moment. The dam scared the hell out of me. LOL. But it was still cool to see from the inside! 😀
Have a great new week. Hugs.
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Wow what a story. Have a great week as well, Teagan. Hugs 😊
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I don’ think this is the same Colorado river I’m familiar with. There sure are a lot of things that aren’t allowed.
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Yes. This is Texas don’t forget. This river begins and ends in Texas.
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We take the water that comes out of our taps for granted and don’t think about the massive undertaking to get it to us.. Love the law breaker… been doing it for years since long before them uppity water folk, took over! hugsx
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This is my first tour of a dam, John – we’ve never lived around any.
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So no zombie attraction at your house. 😀
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Cool dam. Thanks for the tour, John. Too bad they didn’t convert the old bridge into a pedestrian walkway, but probably liability issues.
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Yeah. It is a long way down.
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These are great photos of the dam, John. Last fall, my husband and I were able to tour the inner-workings of one of the dams on the Ohio River. It was amazing.
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That sounds like fun, Michelle. Thanks.
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It was, John, until they took us into a tunnel that went down under the dam. I am a serious claustrophobe.
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OOOOH. not good.
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The dam is huge, John. You managed to get pics at many different angles and views. Thanks for the tour!
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Thanks for going along. 😊
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You’re welcome, John. 🙂
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Fun tour! 🙂 I love the new blue background on your blog, too.
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Thank you, Rhonda. I just changed the background.
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Great tour! I never knew there was a damn in TX.
I’d love to have a drone, but fear I’d crash it and my camera, and now there are so many places you can’t fly one that it kinda sucks the joy out of wanting one.
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Yes. People are very concerned about drones. There are many damns in Texas. G-damn is the biggest. 😁
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ROFL!!! That’s funny. You’re quick! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (^^)//
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😊
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