Nickajack Dam
| Nickajack Dam | |
|---|---|
Nickajack Dam from upstream
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| Official name | Nickajack Dam |
| Location | Marion County, Tennessee, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°00′15″N 85°37′10″W / 35.00417°N 85.61944°WCoordinates: 35°00′15″N 85°37′10″W / 35.00417°N 85.61944°W |
| Construction began | April 1, 1964 |
| Opening date | December 14, 1967 |
| Operator(s) | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Tennessee River |
| Height | 81 ft (25 m) |
| Length | 3,767 ft (1,148 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Nickajack Lake |
Nickajack Dam is a hydroelectric dam in Marion County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of nine dams on the Tennessee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1960s to replace the outdated Hales Bar Dam 6 miles (9.7 km) upstream. The dam impounds the 10,370-acre (4,200 ha) Nickajack Lake and feeds into Guntersville Lake. Nickajack Dam is named for a Cherokee village once located just upstream from the dam (the site is now submerged). The village was the namesake for Nickajack Cave, which was partially flooded by the reservoir.
Nickajack Dam is located 424 miles (682 km) above the mouth of the Tennessee River, near the point where the states of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama meet. This stretch of the river marks a region where the river begins to exit the once treacherous Tennessee River Gorge en route to the flatlands around Guntersville, Alabama. The Sequatchie River empties into the dam's tailwaters, and the city of South Pittsburg is just over 5 miles (8.0 km) downstream from the dam. Nickajack Lake stretches northeast for over 46 miles (74 km), all the way to the base of Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga. Tennessee State Highway 156 passes just south of Nickajack Dam, and Interstate 24 passes a few miles to the north.
Nickajack Dam is 81 feet (25 m) high and 3,767 feet (1,148 m) long. Its reservoir has 179 miles (288 km) of shoreline and 10,370 acres (4,200 ha) of water surface. The dam's 10 spillway bays have a combined discharge of 360,000 cubic feet per second (10,000 m3/s). The electrical generating capacity of Nickajack is 104 megawatts.
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Wikipedia