Projects & Studies
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Critical Infrastructure Security Program (CISP)
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Dam Bridge and Gate Painting: Upper St. Anthony Falls through Lock and Dam 10
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East Two Rivers at Tower, Minnesota
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Effects of Recreational Boating on the Upper Mississippi River System
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General Investigations: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC) Licensing
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General Investigations: Hydropower, Crown Hydro, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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General Investigations: Hydropower, Ford Plant, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Hydropower, LSAF Hydro, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Hydropower, Lock and Dam 2, Hastings, Minnesota
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Hydropower, Upper St. Anthony Falls, Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Integrated Watershed Study: Minnesota River Basin in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa
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Lock & Dam 10 Stage 2
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Lock Tow Haulage Units
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Lock and Dam 4 Embankment Environmental Assessment
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Locks and Dams 2 - 10, Embankment Maintenance Study
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Lower Pool 4 Channel and Dredged Material Management Study
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McMillan Island, Mississippi River Channel Maintenance
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Minnesota River Navigation Project
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Mississippi Headwaters Reservoirs Dam Safety Issues
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Mississippi Headwaters Reservoirs Project Sites
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Mississippi River Locks and Dams Nos. 2-10 Embankment Rehabilitation
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Mississippi River Major Maintenance / Rehabilitation
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Mississippi River: Lock & Dam 3 Navigation Safety and Embankments, Minnesota and Wisconsin
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Navigation and Environmental Sustainability Program (NESP)
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Navigation, Mississippi River, Lock Bulkheads and Slot Installation, Minn/Wisc/Iowa
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Operation and Maintenance, Lock and Dam 10 Stage 2
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Reconnaissance Study: Minnesota River Basin in MN, SD, IA and ND
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Recreational Boating Study of the Mississippi River, Pools 4 to 9, Summer 2003
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River Resource Values and Expectation
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Small-Boat Harbor Dredging, St. Paul, Minnesota (Harbor Dredging)
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St. Croix River: Endangered Mussel Conservation - Zebra Mussel Control
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Upper Mississippi River - Illinois Waterway System Navigation Study
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Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Project - Locks & Dams
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Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Project Channel Maintenance; MN, WI, IA
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Warroad Harbor and River Harbor Dredging
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Sandy Lake and Dam
*** Sandy Lake Recreation Area is offering full services. ***
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Overview
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The Sandy Lake Recreation Area is situated at the outlet of Big Sandy Lake, about 120 miles north of Minneapolis. It is located on the canoe route that linked Lake Superior and the Mississippi River. When the dam was built in 1859, it included a lock to pass boat traffic through. This was the farthest north a lock had been built. Today, the lock house has been renovated to display interpretive exhibits and artifacts.
The well maintained and clean recreation area offers boating, fishing, camping, picnicking, interpretive programs and playground areas. There are both camp and tent sites. About half of the camping sites are located near the shoreline of Big Sandy Lake and Sandy River, which gives campers easy access to the water. The designated beach located on Big Sandy Lake shoreline is a great place to relax and escape the scorching heat.
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Three boat ramps are placed around the lake to give access to the river and lake. The fishing sites are isolated from the camp sites so that there is an increased chance of catching fish due to less noise. It also provides a beautiful view of the lake.
There is also a trail on the opposite side of the dam from the camp sites. This trail provides a bit of isolation and release from the hectic lifestyle.
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Directions
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Take MN-65 13 miles north of McGregor, Minn., and follow south entrance signage.
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Recreation Information
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Make a reservation with the National Recreation Reservation Service Detailed information on individual campsites, picnic shelters, availability, cost, etc.
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You can reserve camp sites and day use facilities at many U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recreation areas nation-wide, as well as many other agencies, online by visiting RECREATION.GOV. Reservations may also be made by calling RECREATION.GOV toll free at 1-877-444-6777.
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History
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The Sandy Lake Dam is located on the Sandy River, 1-1/4 miles above the junction of the Sandy and Mississippi rivers.
The original timber dam dates from 1892-1895. In 1896, a navigation lock, the only one in the Headwaters' reservoir system, was completed. The original timber structure showed deterioration by 1904 and reconstruction began in 1908. Steamboats and horse-drawn wagons transported the concrete plant used at the Pine River Dam to this site.
The lock was also reconstructed, and the operating machinery installed in 1912. The metal-sided shelter house was built over the machinery in 1914. The 30-foot-wide lock is no longer in use. In 1957, it was converted to a spillway containing five sluice bays.
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Eight buildings were constructed at the beginning of work on the dam in 1892. In addition to the watchman's quarters, there were a dining room and kitchen, a warehouse, carpenter and blacksmith shops, a tool house, a stable and a laborers' quarters. Conversion of the watchman's quarters into a dam tender's house began about 1910. The house was razed in 1991.
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This damsite was near the terminus of the Savanna Portage, which connected Sandy Lake and the Upper Mississippi River with the St. Louis River and Lake Superior. Explores, fur traders and missionaries used the portage between 1755 and 1855. In 1794, to the south of the damsite at Brown's Point on Big Sandy Lake, the Northwest Company established a fur trading post. In 1830, the American Fur Company established a post at Sandy Lake at the junction of the Mississippi and Sandy Rivers, just to the west of the present dam. William Aitkin, the operator, and several missionaries resided here between about 1832 and 1855. A steamboat landing at this site operated after about 1870, bringing supplies and settlers to the area.
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Fredrick Ayer established a mission and school near the damsite in 1832-33. A later school building stood northwest of the dam. It was moved off the damsite in the 1950s, but a rubble foundation remains. A cemetery containing the graves of Indians and early settlers is found on the small hill near the site of the dam tender's house.
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Gull Lake Native American Indian Mounds
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[Printable Copy]
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