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  • Description of Kelly Barnes Dam
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  • Site investigations
  • Conditions at time of failure
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The 1977 Toccoa Flood, Report of Failure of Kelly Barnes Dam Flood and Findings

by Federal Investigative Board
Robert L. Crisp, Jr., Chairman
William E. Fox
Robert C. Robison
Vernon B. Sauer

December 21, 1977

ABSTRACT

The Kelly Barnes Dam failed about 1:30 a.m., on November 6, 1977. The dam went through various stages of development. First as a rock crib dam and then with subsequent stages as an earth dam. The rock crib dam was completed about 1899 to back up water which would be used to power a small hydroelectric plant located near the foot of the Falls. About 1937, the Toccoa Falls Bible Institute was interested in developing a more dependable power source and decided to build an earth dam over the rock crib dam. This construction was performed with equipment provided by a local manufacturer. After World War II, the earth fill was raised to a point where an earth spillway on the left side of the valley could be utilized, and a low point on the rim on the right side away from the dam would serve as an secondary spillway in case high flows occurred.

The final height of the dam was approximately 42 feet above the rock foundation. This installation served as a power source until 1957 for the Toccoa Falls Bible Institute, which later became the Toccoa Falls College. At this time, the development of power was stopped but the dam continued to be used as a recreation lake.

The Board could not determine a sole cause of the November 6, failure. It does conclude that a combination of factors caused the failure. The most probable causes are a local slide on the steep downstream slope probably associated with piping, an attendant localized breach in the crest followed by progressive erosion, saturation of the downstream embankment, and subsequently a total collapse of the structure.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Board wishes to acknowledge its grateful appreciation to all the individuals, organizations, and groups that supplied information and assistance of any kind to this effort. This includes the following contributors:

• Office of the Governor of Georgia
• Toccoa Falls College and Staff
• Citizens of Toccoa Falls
• Citizens of Toccoa
• Citizens of Stephens County
• Stephens County Board of Commissioners - Mack Dalrymple, Chairman
• Georgia Baptist Assembly - Harold L. Sangster, Manager
• Toccca Falls College Students - past and present
• Sheraton Motor Inn, Toccoa, Georgia
• Governor's Task Force on Dam Safety
• Georgia Department of Natural Resources
• Georgia Department of Transportation
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - South Atlantic Division, Savannah
• District, CERL, and Waterways Experiment Station
• U.S. Geological Survey
• National Weather Service - Southeast River Forecast Center, Weather Service
• Forecast Office (Atlanta)
• Soil Conservation Service
• Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service
• Federal Disaster Assistance Administration
• U.S. Army Forces Command Flight Detachment
• Professor George F. Sowers - Georgia Institute of Technology
• Dr. Timothy Long - Georgia Institute of Technology
• Dr. Pradeep Talwani - University of South Carolina
• Local, State and National Press

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