Flat Rock Dam (Pennsylvania)
The Flat Rock Dam is an earthen dam across the Schuylkill River. The river flows through the dam at a rate of about 2540 CFS. A future hydroelectric project plans to place turbines to generate 1.5 MW of electricity.
The dam is part of the Flat Rock Park maintained by Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and is located off the Schuylkill Expressway in Gladwyne.
The dam is part of a series of locks and waterway built by Schuylkill Navigation Company between Port Carbon and Philadelphia, in order to carry upstate coal to markets in the city. It creates a pool for the canal boats above it, and it brings water to the Manayunk Reach. Under the supervision of Ariel Cooley, a Massachusetts engineer who was responsible for the design of the Fairmount Dam, the construction of the dam and locks started on 1815, until its completion in 1818.
