After delays caused by flood waters, the dam was completed on June 14, 1909. However, unusual summer rains filled the reservoir, overtaxed the spillways and threatened to overtop the unfinished auxiliary dike south of the dam, possibly allowing the river to cut a new, lower channel and potentially leaving the damsite dry. Explosive charges were placed in the crest of the main dam, to be used if the overflow occurred, thus keeping the lowest point at the dam. The dike held and the charges were not needed, but did have to be removed by explosives experts in 1949. An auxiliary dike was built at the location in 1910 to develop the reservoir's full capacity. The potential overtopping gave rise to sensational stories in Denver newspapers and caused annual nervousness in Casper downstream for a number of years thereafter. The Fremont Canyon Powerplant was built between 1958 and 1961, part of the Glendo Unit of the Pick–Sloan Missouri Basin Project.