page_title: Folsom Dam
section_title: Security
hierarchical_section_title: Folsom Dam / Safety / Security
caption_attribution_description: English: The new Folsom Lake Crossing bridge over the American River below Folsom Dam. The bridge was opened in March 2009.
context_page_description: Folsom Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the American River of Northern California in the United States, about 25 mi northeast of Sacramento. The dam is 340 ft high and 1,400 ft long, flanked by earthen wing dams. It was completed in 1955, officially opening the following year.
  Located at the juncture of the north and south forks of the American River, the dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and was transferred to the United States Bureau of Reclamation upon its completion. The dam and its reservoir, Folsom Lake, are part of the Central Valley Project, a multipurpose project that provides flood control, hydroelectricity, and irrigation and municipal water supply. In order to increase Sacramento's flood protection to 200 year flood protection the US Army Corps of Engineers recently constructed an auxiliary spillway, which was completed in October 2017 and enables Folsom Dam operators to increase outflows to prevent lake level from reaching or exceeding the height of the main dam gates.
  Another Central Valley Project dam, Nimbus Dam, is located further down river.
context_section_description: After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the Bureau of Reclamation analyzed potential targets for vulnerability and measures that could be taken to eliminate or reduce possible threats. With 500,000 residents in the vicinity of the Folsom Dam, the possibility of an attack on the dam was great enough concern for Bureau officials to close Folsom Dam Road. The road over the dam had been a major artery for the city of Folsom. With its closure, traffic became severely congested during rush hour.  The impact was so great that residents and city officials petitioned the federal government to reconsider the road closure, which the government initially considered.  Continued security concerns prevented them from re-opening the road and a new bridge, named Folsom Lake Crossing, was constructed and opened on March 28, 2009.
caption: The new Folsom Lake Crossing bridge, built to bypass the dam, opened in March 2009
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