Watts Bar Dam

Watts Bar Dam, on the Tennessee River in Tennessee about halfway between Knoxville and Chattanooga, provides flood control as well as hydroelectric power. Spanning the river between Meigs County and Rhea County, it is one of nine Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams on the Tennessee River. The dam impounds Watts Bar Lake and feeds into Chickamauga Lake. State Route 68 crosses the dam.

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) of the Clinch River and 12 miles (19 km) of Emory River backwater are 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.

History

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

ee also

*Dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee River
*List of crossings of the Tennessee River
*Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station

External links

* [http://www.tva.com/sites/wattsbarres.htm TVA: Watts Bar Reservoir]