Rolled Earth Dams is a color documentary produced by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It explains how earth dams are made. The USACE was established June 16, 1775 by the Continental Congress and continues to this day. This film was probably produced in the 1940’s based on the automobiles pictured.

Views of Earth dams (0:13-0:38). A flooded lake and river area. Flooded home. Earth Dams help with flood control (0:39-1:01). 1940’s automobiles transported on a barge down a river (1:02-1:19). Hydroelectric power towers (1:20-1:36). Engineers planning a dam structure use Topographic Data, Foundation Data, Hydraulic Data (1:37-1:48). Scale model of Dam is used (1:49-2:04). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers logo at Enid Dam (2:12-2:16). Arial view of an earth dam and how it blocks a stream creating a lake reservoir (2:26-2:40). An illustrated Cross-section of an earth dam (2:41-4:01). To create an earth dam: Preparing the soil by removing timber (4:02-4:31). Stripping the soil to remove vegetation (4:32-4:52). Muck is removed with a clamshell bucket (4:53-5:10). Bulldozer removing top soil (5:11-5:57). Plough and harrow to create better bond (5:58-6:18). Cutoff trench is dug and filled with impervious material (6:19-6:33). Dragline excavator and bucket at work (6:34-7:11). Dewatering a site using wellpoints (7:12-8:34). Cutoff fill materials is impervious material spread in a thin layer (8:35-9:43). A Sheepsfoot roller pokes holes in the dirt (9:44-10:43). A Toe Drain is constructed on the river side of the dam to pick up seepage (10:44-11:20). How to Construct a toe drain (11:21-11:54). A processing plant for pervious material (11:55-12:15). Processed pervious material is spread throughout the toe drain with a bulldozer (12:16-12:40). The Pervious drainage blanket is placed on the stripped foundation (12:41-12:51). If material is too dry, pre-wetting is needed (12:52-13:24). A Shovel is used for excavating (13:25-13:43). An Elevating grader (13:44-14:04). Heavy duty dump truck used in excavating (14:05-14:16). Illustration of the impervious core (14:17-14:30). Bottom dump wagons carry the soil (14:31-14:50). Bulldozer spreads soil (14:51-15:00). Roller with cutting blades cuts up the chunks of soil (15:01-15:16). Sheepsfoot roller is used for compaction (15:38-15:49). A smooth roller is used to compact the soil (15:50-16:06). The soil is loosened by using a scarifier (16:22-16:37). A weighted rubber tired roller (16:37-16:57). Compact as close to concrete wall as possible (16:58-17:44). Mechanical Hand Tampers are used by walls (17:45-18:01). Testing the soil requires the use of an earth auger (18:02-18:54). A soil laboratory tests the soil for moisture (18:55-19:14). Illustration of pervious shell (19:15-19:29). Pervious soil is sand and gravel and is spread to specified thickness (19:30-20:01). Use weighted rubber tired rollers for compacting (20:02-20:25). Vegetative cover is put on the downstream side (20:26-20:32). Top soil is spread on top (20:33-21:06). Sod and seeds are placed on top of soil (21:07-21:21). Illustration of bedding layer on reservoir side (21:28-21:42). The bedding layer is sandy gravel (21:43-22:25). Rip rap is placed at the base to slow down erosion (22:26-23:19). Views of many earth dams (23:36-24:15).

Enid Lake is one of the four lakes in North Mississippi operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Construction on the Enid Lake Project began in 1947 and was completed in December 1952. Enid Lake is part of the Yazoo Headwater Project, which was designed to help protect the Mississippi Delta from flooding.

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