Maximizing the Impact of Federal Projects: The Belleville Dam and Lock

​By Jody Brumage

In the middle of his first term in the United States Senate in 1963, Senator Robert C. Byrd secured federal appropriations to support flood control and river navigation projects. Many of these projects were authorized through the Flood Control Act of 1962 which authorized the use of federal funding, administered through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to construct dams, levies, and other flood protection infrastructure. In West Virginia, several projects authorized under this legislation were located along the Ohio River which forms the western border of the state and has historically acted as a major industrial transportation route for coal and other goods and resources. In 1965, Senator Byrd successfully increased funding for flood control projects in West Virginia to $45 million and initiated a series of programs to take advantage of the many facets of these large infrastructure projects. 

Senator Byrd and a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspect a map of the Ohio River.

Senator Byrd visits the construction site of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project in 1965.

​One of the dams developed under this legislation and supported by Senator Byrd’s efforts was the Belleville Dam and Lock, located on the Ohio River about halfway between Ravenswood and Parkersburg, West Virginia. Preliminary surveys on the site began in 1963 and by 1964 advanced to construction. The Belleville Dam required the excavation of over 961,000 cubic yards of earth and the pouring of 179,110 cubic yards of concrete. A series of 8 gates in the dam can be raised and lowered to various degrees to regulate water flow on the Ohio. Construction of the dam and its associated lock, built on the Ohio side of the river to allow boat traffic to bypass the dam, was completed near the end of 1968.

The Belleville Dam and Lock on the Ohio River. (Photo from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

​As construction on the Belleville Dam and Lock progressed, Senator Byrd investigated ways to achieve the most benefit from the federally-funded project for West Virginia. The dam already served two roles: improving the navigability of the Ohio River to facilitate increased shipping and providing new flood control infrastructure for the river and the many cities and towns located along its banks and tributaries. A third benefit from the dam project was recreational opportunities. In meetings with his committee staff, Senator Byrd reviewed the options and the costs associated with adding features such as fishing piers, boat ramps, and picnic areas to make the reservoirs associated with these dams places for public recreation. In 1965, Senator Byrd announced that a recreational complex would be added to the Belleville Dam including a boat ramp, visitor services facility, drinking fountains, and picnic sites.

"It is a pleasure for me to see a multi-purpose use of major facilities like the Belleville Dam. The recreation potentials are being explored to their fullest and will be developed for public use." 

Senator Robert C. Byrd, 1965

Notes detailing the funding of recreational amenities at dams and reservoirs throughout West Virginia.

The precedent set by the Belleville Dam and Lock inspired similar projects across the state. Of West Virginia’s over thirty major dams and reservoirs, half of them provide recreational facilities similar to the ones planned by Senator Byrd at Belleville. Another benefit of dam and reservoir projects that has been slower to be realized is hydropower. Despite several unsuccessful attempts to build-in hydroelectric generating plants at locations throughout West Virginia, at least four have been constructed on the Cheat, Potomac, and Gauley Rivers. The work at Belleville also instructed future plans for appropriations projects which Senator Byrd supported throughout his career, capitalizing on the many beneficial economic, educational, and job creation impacts federally-funded infrastructure projects could bring to West Virginia.