Lake Bridgeport (Trinity River Basin)
Lake Bridgeport, formerly known as Bridgeport Reservoir, is located about four miles west of Bridgeport in Wise County, on the West Fork Trinity River. The reservoir was authorized by State Board of Water Engineers by Water Rights Permit No. 1074 (Application No. 1145) to the Tarrant County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 (Tarrant Regional Water District) on May 1, 1928. Construction of Lake Bridgeport and the original Bridgeport Dam started on January 23, 1930. The dam was completed December 15, 1931 and impoundment began on April 1, 1932.
The design engineer for the project was Hawley, Freese and Nichols. The general contractor was McKenzie and Uvalde Construction Companies. The top of the dam is at elevation of 874 feet above mean sea level, with an uncontrolled emergency spillway at the left of the dam and its crest elevation at 866 feet above mean sea level. The designed maximum water surface may reach to 871.22 feet above mean sea level, while the top of flood control pool is at an elevation of 851 feet above mean sea level. In 1971 and 1972, modifications were made at the facility to enlarge the impoundment of Lake Bridgeport. This involved building a new spillway approximately 3,000 feet north of the main dam. The new spillway is controlled by 8 vertical gates with a top elevation of 842 feet above mean sea level. New outlet works were also added as part of the modification. A 60-inch diameter steel pipe with entrance elbow is located in part of the spillway wall. The new invert elevation of the elbow is 810.0 feet and is controlled by a slide gate at the discharge end of the pipe. The Lake is owned and operated by the Tarrant Regional Water District in conjunction with Eagle Mountain Lake and Lake Worth as a system for purposes of flood control, water storage, and recreation.
The crest of the service spillway is at elevation of 836 feet above mean sea level. According to the TWDB 2010 volumetric survey, at this elevation, the lake has a conservation storage capacity of 361,875 acre-feet and covers a surface area of 11,712 acres. The drainage area above the dam is 1,111 square miles.