| Monticello Dam impounds Putah Creek west of Sacramento, California. The solid concrete structure stands 93 m (304 ft) tall. The dam’s arched upstream face transfers some of the pressure from its reservoir, Lake Berryessa, onto the walls of the canyon. This design enables an arch dam to be much less massive than an equivalent gravity dam, which relies solely on the force of its weight to hold back the water in a reservoir. While Monticello Dam measures 30 m (100 ft) at its base, an equivalent gravity dam might be more than five times as thick at the base. |
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