Grand Valley Diversion Dam, Half a mile north of intersection of I-70 & Colorado State Route 65, Cameo, Mesa County, CO

Significance: Constructed between 1913 and 1916, the dam is the key structure of the Bureau of Reclamation's Grand Valley Project, which provides water to 42,000 acres of semi-arid land. At the time of its completion in the spring of 1916, the dam was one of only three American dams to utilize innovative gate technology first employed in Germany in 1902. The Grand Valley dam would later serve as the prototype for the Army Corps of Engineers' massive system of locks and dams on the Mississippi River. The project stands as an early representative example of federal involvement in western land development. The dam's roller gates were built by American manufacturers, from German design, during the early years of WWI; this process of roller-gate design and manufacture contributes to our understanding of wartime disruption of business partnerships and economic development. This relationship and the disruption by WWI resulted in American engineers gaining experience in the design fabrication and erection of roller gates.
Survey number: HAER CO-90
Building/structure dates: after. 1912- before. 1917 Initial Construction