Watts Bar Dam

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Watts Bar Dam, is located halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga. Spanning the Tennessee River across Meigs County, Tennessee and Rhea County, Tennessee is one of nine Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams on the Tennessee River, it impounds Watts Bar Lake and feeds into Chickamauga Lake. The Dam and 2 other TVA facilities (Coal plant, and Watts Bar nuclear plant) are accessible from State Route 68, through either of the 2 bordering unincorporated communities of Ten Mile, Tennessee, and Watts Bar, Tennessee.

[edit] Capacity

Watts Bar Lake extends 72.4 miles (117 km) northeast from the dam to Fort Loudoun Dam. In addition to the 72.4 miles (117 km) of navigable Tennessee River Channel created by Watts Bar, 20 miles (32 km) Clinch River and 12 miles (19 km) of Emory River Backwater is navigable.

Watts Bar provides 722 miles (1160 km) of shoreline and over 39,090 acres (158 km²) of water surface. Watts Bar Dam is 112 feet (34 m) high and stretches 2,960 feet (902 m) across the Tennessee River. Watts Bar has a flood-storage capacity of 379,000 acre-feet (467,000,000 m³), and generates 175 megawatts of electricity.

[edit] History

Construction of Watts Bar Dam began in 1939 and was completed in 1942.

[edit] See also