Douglas Dam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Douglas Dam is a man-made dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County in East Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Douglas Dam is a straight reinforced concrete gravity-type dam 1705 feet (520 m) wide and 202 feet (62 m) high classifying it as a large dam. Douglas Dam reservoir forms Douglas Lake.
Contents |
[edit] Location and access
The dam is located at (35.96, -83.54)[1].
Road access is available by Tennessee State Hwy 338 which crosses just downstream of the dam. The nearest Interstate is I-40. Exit 407 is only a few miles from the dam.
The dam does not have any navigational locks.
[edit] History
During World War II electrical power was needed for national defense purposes. In 1941 President Roosevelt asked Congress to approve funding for Douglas Dam in east Tennessee. After the attack on Pearl Harbor funding was quickly approved and the dam was built as a rush project.
Construction of the dam began in February 1942 and was completed in March 1943. According to TVA "the construction of Douglas set a world record for projects of equivalent size."[2] Supplies for the construction of the dam were hauled to the site by the Smoky Mountain Railroad, which had constructed a branch line to the site from nearby Sevierville.[3]
Ten smaller saddle dams were also constructed at the same time as Douglas Dam. These saddle dams are a part of the Douglas Reservoir and contain the French Broad River from spilling into adjacent valleys and permit a higher water elevation than would otherwise be possible.
The small town of Dandridge, Tennessee, named after Martha Dandridge Washington, wife of George Washington, was scheduled to be flooded by the creation of Douglas Dam. The citizens of Dandridge appealed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, pointing out that the town was the only place in the United States named for Martha Washington. Mrs. Roosevelt made certain that an earthen saddle dam was built to protect the town of Dandridge from flooding. This saddle dam is near the Jefferson County Courthouse.[4]
[edit] Power generation
Douglas Dam is a hydroelectric power generation facility consisting of 4 electric generation units with combined production capacity of 165,000 kW.
[edit] Flood control
In addition to power generation, a secondary purpose of Douglas Dam is flood control of the French Broad River. Douglas Lake has over 500 miles (800 km) of shoreline and has a water surface of approximately 30,000 acres (120 km²). Flood-storage capacity is 1,081,880 acre feet (1.3 km³) of water.
[edit] Recreational Use
Douglas Lake is a popular recreational destination for up to 2 million visitors a year. Primary uses are fishing, boating, water skiing, camping, hiking and wildlife viewing. In addition to a number of private campgrounds, TVA maintains the Douglas Dam Headwater Campground and the Douglas Dam Tailwater Campground for public use.
[edit] Ecological effects
One of the issues of hydroelectric power generation is the reduction of dissolved oxygen in the dam tailwaters. Three systems are used at Douglas Dam to improve oxygenation.[5]
- 1. Turbine venting - injection of oxygen at the turbines.
- 2. Surface water pumps - pumps that push surface water downward to the turbines.
- 3. Water pulsing - release of water through turbines to maintain some water flow at all times.
[edit] Notes
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ TVA article on Douglas Reservoir
- ^ Smoky Mountain Railway
- ^ SOURCE: New York Times, Jan. 16, 1942; June 11, 1961
- ^ TVA article on tailwater improvements for oxygenation
[edit] External links
- Douglas Dam is at coordinates Coordinates:
|
||||||||||||||
