Best Dam Ride in the South: The TVA Dams of the Upper Tennessee River
A heavy discharge of water flows from the top of North Carolina?s Cheoah Dam, which is about 10 miles downstream from Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River. Photos by the author.
Looking down on the raging torrent thundering out of the 34-foot-diameter emergency spillway below Fontana Dam, you can almost feel the ground shake beneath your feet! The 100-foot-high plume created by this blast shoots several hundred feet across the Little Tennessee River and creates a Niagara Falls-like mist. At 480 feet, this is the tallest dam east of the Rockies.
In May of 1933, President F. D. Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, beginning one of the largest projects in the history of the United States. The TVA built dams on the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide flood control, generate electrical power, support agriculture and recreation and put thousands of men and women to work during the Great Depression. Today these magnificent dams are still fulfilling their original purpose and more. Huge reservoirs in the beautiful valleys of the southern Appalachian Mountains help keep a 650-mile stretch of the Tennessee River navigable all the way from Paducah, Kentucky, on the Ohio River to Knoxville, Tennessee. TVA has created a system of lakes and reservoirs that include some 33 dams in five states, providing ample opportunities for boating, fishing and camping. A riding exploration of these dams and reservoirs is a real treat as the roads in these mountains are ...
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