the concrete gravity dam was constructed between 1946 and 1951 by the united states bureau of reclamation, with a height of 244 feet, and a length of 440 feet at its crest. it impounds the north platte river for hydroelectric power. owned and operated by the bureau, it stands as part of the kortes unit of the vast pick–sloan missouri basin program less than two miles downstream from the bureau's larger seminoe dam.