In May 1963, land acquisition for Toledo Bend Reservoir got underway. Construction of the Toledo Bend Dam, which would halt the flow of the mighty Sabine River to ultimately create the lake, began almost one year later, in April 1963. The dam and the spillway construction were initiated, along with the building of a power plant from which hydroelectricity would be generated.
The closure of the earthen embankment and the filling of the lake began in October 1966.
Here are a few photos of the construction of the Spillway and Dam. The spillway was designed to provide the controlled release of flows from the dam downstream to the Sabine River, and to release flood water so the level does not get too high and overtop or damage the dam.
Here are some photos of construction of the dam and spillway. I added some close ups of a couple of the photos… honing in on different parts of the original photo.
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