It is a 12-foot-high stone structure which interrupts the natural flow of Virginia's largest self-contained river by spanning the waterway between suburban Tuckahoe in Henrico County and the western part of Richmond just west of the Edward E. Willey Bridge.

[2] Such fish as shad, herring, and striped bass—which make their migratory spawning runs between March and early June—had been blocked by Bosher's, which made migration impossible for at least 300 miles upstream in the James, the Rivanna River, and other tributaries.

While the dam still functions to get water into the Canal, which has become more of a historic feature than a means of transportation, it has also created conditions to make this section of the James suitable for powerboating with waterskiing and other activities typically available only on lakes and larger waterways.

[3] The proposed project would consist of: the existing 12-foot-high dam; a 1,000-acre impoundment with a storage capacity of 2,100 acre-feet and drainage area of 6,753 square miles; a new 700-foot-long, 180-foot-wide intake; a new 300-foot-long, 180-foot-wide tailrace; four new 2-MW turbines; a new 65-foot-long, 197-foot-wide powerhouse; a new 60-foot-long, 50-foot-wide substation; and a new 528-foot-long, 69-kV transmission line.

Lowhead dams can be particularly hazardous because they tend to create "hydraulics," currents that push objects (and people) underwater and then inextricably cycle them for hours, days, or weeks until the water level changes.