Barker Meadow Dam Photograph Album  1906 - 1910

 Workers at the Barker Meadow Dam Site

The Barker Meadow Hydroelectric Dam project in Boulder County was initiated in 1906  by the Eastern Colorado Power Company.  However, due to an economic downturn shortly thereafter, work was suspended until 1909 and continued until 1910.  This project developed both the Kossler and Barker hydroelectric dams and reservoirs.  Included in this engineering project was the laying of a 11.7 mile, 36" reinforced concrete gravity pipeline that connected the two reservoirs and the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in the rugged Boulder Canyon.

"This dam was built across Boulder Creek, a few miles from the town of Nederland, in Boulder County, Colorado.  It is the property of the Central Colorado Power Company and was designed by that company's engineers under the direction of Mr. A. S. Crane, of New York, as consulting engineer.  The dam is a concrete structure of the standard section universally accepted by engineers as the correct one for masonry dams.  Its maximum height is about 170 feet and its length on the crest 660 feet...

In addition to the State supervision, the Central Colorado Power Company maintained a constant and careful engineering inspection and the contractors seemed also to have a pride in doing good work.  The result is a structure which is not only safe and substantial in every way, but a credit to everyone connected with it as well.  The dam was finally completed in August, 1910."1

This collection of sixty-five black & white photographic prints was donated to the Colorado State Archives by the Theissen Family in order to preserve the legacy of Henry Louis Thiessen's engineering work on building the dam.  To obtain a copy of any of the photographs shown below or to view the entire collection please contact the Colorado State Archives to make arrangements.

    Installation of Heavy Pressure Line

    Front of Barker Meadow Dam, Boulder Caņon, 7/25/1910

    Construction, Looking Southeast, 4/21/1910

    Construction, Looking West, 4/22/1910

    Construction, Looking South, 4/23/1910

    Barker Meadows Panorama, 8/2/1909

    Kossler Dam, Head-Gate Flume

    Installation of Heavy Pressure Pipeline

    Boulder Falls, Boulder Caņon

    Profile Rock, Boulder Caņon

    Offices of the Eastern Colorado Power Company, Camp 1

    Construction of Power House, Eastern Colorado Power Company

    Men Riding Heavy Pressure Piping Up Mountainside

    Construction of Flume

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1.    Charles W. Comstock, Fifteenth Biennial Report of the State Engineer to the Governor of Colorado for the Years 1909 - 1910, Denver: Smith-Brooks Printing Company, 1911.

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Last modified June 20, 2003