Chickamauga Dam
Encyclopedia
Chickamauga Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River
in Chattanooga, Tennessee
, USA. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal
era initiative to improve navigation and bring flood control and economic development to the Tennessee Valley. The dam impounds the 36240 acres (14,665.8 ha) Chickamauga Lake
and feeds into Nickajack Lake
. Chickamauga Dam is named for the Chickamauga, a politically-detached branch of the Cherokee
whose chief village was located just north of the dam site during the 18th century. The tribe's name has also been applied to several streams in the Chattanooga area, as well as an important American Civil War battle
and a sandbar that existed at the dam site prior to its construction.
, and includes parts of Hamilton
, Bradley, McMinn, Polk, Rhea
, and Meigs
counties. The reservoir's notable embayments include Harrison Bay at its confluence with Wolftever Creek approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) upstream from the dam and the Soddy Creek embayment at 20 miles (32.2 km) upstream. Along with its main Tennessee River channel, the reservoir is navigable across the lower 18 miles (29 km) of the Hiwassee River
, which joins the Tennessee River 30 miles (48.3 km) above the dam.
The Wilkes T. Thrasher Bridge
carries Tennessee State Route 153
across the top of Chickamauga Dam. The road connects the dam to Interstate 75
to the south and U.S. Route 27
to the north. The Tennessee Riverwalk
, a 10 miles (16.1 km) walkway along the Tennessee River, begins at the dam.
gravity-type dam 5800 feet (1,767.8 m) long and 129 feet (39.3 m) high. Its hydroelectric generating capacity is 160 megawatts. The dam has 18 spillway bays with a combined discharge of 470000 cuft/s.
A 60 by navigation lock
allows barge
s and other boats to travel past the dam, raising or lowering vessels 53 feet (16.2 m) between Chickamauga and Nickajack reservoirs. Because the concrete of the original lock has deteriorated due to "concrete growth" caused by chemical reaction
s between its constituent cement
and rock
aggregate
, a $375 million project to replace the lock began in 2003. The new 110 by lock was scheduled to be completed by 2014.
The construction of Chickamauga Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of 61350 acres (24,827.5 ha) of land, 6030 acres (2,440.3 ha) of which were wooded and had to be cleared. 903 families, 24 cemeteries, and 81 miles (130.4 km) of roads had to be relocated. An embankment was built to protect parts of Dayton, Tennessee
from the reservoir's backwaters, and several roads and buildings in the town of Soddy
were relocated or modified. A total of 39 bridges affected by the reservoir were either raised or moved.
The navigation lock at Chickamauga Dam was designed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and was based on the lock design at Guntersville Dam
. The lock was initially 60 by 360 ft (18.3 by 109.7 m), although the dam was designed in a way that allowed a larger 110 by 600 ft (33.5 by 182.9 m) lock to be installed if increases in river traffic ever required it.
Chickamauga Dam was completed and its gates closed on January 15, 1940, constructed at a cost of $42,065,000. The lock was placed into operation on February 26, 1940, and the first generator went online May 4, 1940. Two recreational areas— Booker T. Washington State Park
and Harrison Bay State Park
— were developed as segregated
parks along Chickamauga Lake's shores, with the former originally being for African-Americans and the latter originally being for caucasians
.
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, USA. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
era initiative to improve navigation and bring flood control and economic development to the Tennessee Valley. The dam impounds the 36240 acres (14,665.8 ha) Chickamauga Lake
Chickamauga Lake
Chickamauga Lake is a United States reservoir along the Tennessee River created when the Chickamauga Dam, as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, was completed in 1940. The lake stretches from Watts Bar Dam at mile 529.9 to Chickamauga Dam at mile 471.0 making the lake 58.9 miles long...
and feeds into Nickajack Lake
Nickajack Lake
Nickajack Lake is the reservoir created by Nickajack Dam as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The lake stretches from Nickajack Dam to Chickamauga Dam, and runs along the shores of Chattanooga, TN...
. Chickamauga Dam is named for the Chickamauga, a politically-detached branch of the Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
whose chief village was located just north of the dam site during the 18th century. The tribe's name has also been applied to several streams in the Chattanooga area, as well as an important American Civil War battle
Battle of Chickamauga
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...
and a sandbar that existed at the dam site prior to its construction.
Location
Chickamauga Dam is located 471 miles (758 km) upstream from the mouth of the Tennessee River, just east of downtown Chattanooga at the river's confluence with North Chickamauga Creek. The reservoir stretches for 59 miles (95 km) from Chickamauga Dam to the base of Watts Bar DamWatts Bar Dam
Watts Bar Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Meigs County and Rhea County, Tennessee, USA. The dam is one of nine dams on the main Tennessee River channel operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in early 1940s to provide flood control and electricity and...
, and includes parts of Hamilton
Hamilton County, Tennessee
Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was named for Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 310,935 . Its county seat is Chattanooga....
, Bradley, McMinn, Polk, Rhea
Rhea County, Tennessee
Rhea County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 28,400. Its county seat is Dayton.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, and Meigs
Meigs County, Tennessee
Meigs County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 11,753. Its county seat is Decatur.-History:Before 1819, the area that is now Meigs County was Cherokee territory. White settlers established ferries to cross the Tennessee River from Rhea County as...
counties. The reservoir's notable embayments include Harrison Bay at its confluence with Wolftever Creek approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) upstream from the dam and the Soddy Creek embayment at 20 miles (32.2 km) upstream. Along with its main Tennessee River channel, the reservoir is navigable across the lower 18 miles (29 km) of the Hiwassee River
Hiwassee River
The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in northern Georgia and flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee River a few miles west of State Route 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee...
, which joins the Tennessee River 30 miles (48.3 km) above the dam.
The Wilkes T. Thrasher Bridge
Wilkes T. Thrasher Bridge
The Wilkes T. Thrasher Bridge is a 4-lane road bridge located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It opened in 1955 and carries State Highway 153 over the Chickamauga Dam crossing the Tennessee River....
carries Tennessee State Route 153
Tennessee State Route 153
Tennessee 153 is a state highway in Chattanooga. It runs from Interstate 75 a few miles east of the I-75/I-24 interchange, to US 27 just south of Soddy-Daisy. The route serves as a bypass around downtown Chattanooga for I-75 travelers heading towards US 27 north...
across the top of Chickamauga Dam. The road connects the dam to Interstate 75
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 and State Road 924 in Hialeah, Florida to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border...
to the south and U.S. Route 27
U.S. Route 27
U.S. Route 27 is a north–south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 in Fort Wayne, Indiana...
to the north. The Tennessee Riverwalk
Tennessee Riverwalk
The Tennessee Riverwalk is a 13-mile riverside path which parallels the Tennessee River from the Chickamauga Dam to downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee...
, a 10 miles (16.1 km) walkway along the Tennessee River, begins at the dam.
Capacity
Chickamauga Dam is a concreteConcrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
gravity-type dam 5800 feet (1,767.8 m) long and 129 feet (39.3 m) high. Its hydroelectric generating capacity is 160 megawatts. The dam has 18 spillway bays with a combined discharge of 470000 cuft/s.
A 60 by navigation lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
allows barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
s and other boats to travel past the dam, raising or lowering vessels 53 feet (16.2 m) between Chickamauga and Nickajack reservoirs. Because the concrete of the original lock has deteriorated due to "concrete growth" caused by chemical reaction
Chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...
s between its constituent cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
and rock
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
aggregate
Construction Aggregate
Construction aggregate, or simply "aggregate", is a broad category of coarse particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed stone, slag, recycled concrete and geosynthetic aggregates. Aggregates are the most mined material in the world...
, a $375 million project to replace the lock began in 2003. The new 110 by lock was scheduled to be completed by 2014.
Background and construction
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyed the Chickamauga Island site in the 1920s as a possible site for a dam to protect Chattanooga, which had suffered serious flood damage in 1867, 1875, 1886, and 1917, and to enhance navigation along the river. When the Tennessee Valley Authority was formed in the mid-1930s, it assumed control of navigation and flood control operations in the Tennessee Valley. After extensive surveying, TVA chose the tip of Chickamauga Island over several other sites surveyed by the Army Corps in the vicinity. The Chickamauga project was authorized December 31, 1935, and dam construction began January 13, 1936.The construction of Chickamauga Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of 61350 acres (24,827.5 ha) of land, 6030 acres (2,440.3 ha) of which were wooded and had to be cleared. 903 families, 24 cemeteries, and 81 miles (130.4 km) of roads had to be relocated. An embankment was built to protect parts of Dayton, Tennessee
Dayton, Tennessee
Dayton is a city in Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 6,180 at the 2000 census. The Dayton, TN, Urban Cluster, which includes developed areas adjacent to the city and extends south to Graysville, Tennessee, had 9,050 people in 2000...
from the reservoir's backwaters, and several roads and buildings in the town of Soddy
Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee
Soddy-Daisy is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 11,530 at the 2000 census. The City was formed in 1969 when the communities of Soddy and Daisy, along with nearby developed areas along U.S. Highway 27, merged to form Soddy-Daisy. It is rapidly becoming a...
were relocated or modified. A total of 39 bridges affected by the reservoir were either raised or moved.
The navigation lock at Chickamauga Dam was designed by the Army Corps of Engineers, and was based on the lock design at Guntersville Dam
Guntersville Dam
Guntersville Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Marshall County, in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal era initiative to create a...
. The lock was initially 60 by 360 ft (18.3 by 109.7 m), although the dam was designed in a way that allowed a larger 110 by 600 ft (33.5 by 182.9 m) lock to be installed if increases in river traffic ever required it.
Chickamauga Dam was completed and its gates closed on January 15, 1940, constructed at a cost of $42,065,000. The lock was placed into operation on February 26, 1940, and the first generator went online May 4, 1940. Two recreational areas— Booker T. Washington State Park
Booker T. Washington State Park
Booker T. Washington State Park is a situated on the shores of Chickamauga Lake near Chattanooga, Tennessee.-External links:*...
and Harrison Bay State Park
Harrison Bay State Park
Harrison Bay State Park is a demonstration park TVA built in the 1930s along the shores of Chickamauga Lake. The bay gets it names from the now partially submerged town of Harrison, Tennessee....
— were developed as segregated
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
parks along Chickamauga Lake's shores, with the former originally being for African-Americans and the latter originally being for caucasians
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
.
See also
- Hales Bar DamHales Bar DamHales Bar Dam was a hydroelectric dam once located on the Tennessee River in Marion County, Tennessee, USA. The Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company began building the dam in 1905 and completed it in 1913, making Hales Bar one of the first major multipurpose dams and one of the first...
- Dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee RiverDams and reservoirs of the Tennessee RiverThe Tennessee Valley Authority operates the Tennessee River system to provide a wide range of public benefits: year-round navigation, flood damage reduction, affordable electricity, improved water quality and water supply, recreation, and economic growth....
- List of crossings of the Tennessee River