Guntersville Dam is a
hydroelectric dam
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
on the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...
in
Marshall County, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
. It is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
era initiative to create a continuous navigation channel on the entire length of the river and bring
flood control
Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
and economic development to the region. The dam impounds the
Guntersville Lake
Guntersville Lake (generally referred to locally as Lake Guntersville) is in northern Alabama between Bridgeport and Guntersville.
Location
The lake stretches 75 miles (121 km) from Guntersville Dam to Nickajack Dam. It is Alabama's larges ...
of , and its tailwaters feed into
Wheeler Lake
Wheeler Lake is located in the northern part of the state of Alabama in the United States, between Rogersville and Huntsville. Created by Wheeler Dam along the Tennessee River, it stretches from Wheeler Dam to Guntersville Dam. It is Alabama's ...
.
Guntersville Dam is named for the city of
Guntersville, Alabama
Guntersville (previously known as Gunter's Ferry and later Gunter's Landing) is a city and the county seat of Marshall County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,553. Guntersville is located in a HUBZon ...
, which is located about upstream.
[Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Guntersville Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Guntersville Project'', Technical Report No. 4 (Knoxville, Tenn.: Tennessee Valley Authority, 1941), pp. 1-14, 44, 243, 256, 265.] The city is named for its first settler, John Gunter (d. 1836), who arrived in the late 18th century.
[Lake Guntersville Chamber of Commerce]
History of Guntersville
. Retrieved: 15 January 2009.
Location
Guntersville Dam is located above the mouth of the Tennessee River, at a point where the southwestward-flowing river begins to change its course to a more northwestwardly direction. The dam's reservoir stretches for nearly to the base of
Nickajack Dam, and includes parts of Marshall and
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name
Places
Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Qu ...
counties in Alabama and
Marion County in Tennessee. The reservoir's backwaters have formed embayments on the lower parts of Browns Creek and Spring Creek to the west and east of the city of Guntersville, respectively, effectively placing the city at the tip of a long peninsula.
Capacity
Guntersville Dam is high and wide, and has a generating capacity of 140,400
kilowatts of electricity. The dam's 18-bay spillway has a total discharge capacity of . Its reservoir has a storage capacity of ,
with reserved for flood control. The reservoir is the most stable reservoir in the TVA system, fluctuating just per year.
[Tennessee Valley Authority]
Guntersville Reservoir
Retrieved: 15 January 2009.
Guntersville Dam is serviced by a
navigation lock
A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...
. The lock can lift and lower vessels up to between Guntersville Lake and Wheeler Lake. The dam's original lock is now used as an auxiliary lock.
Background and construction
In the early 1900s, the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
, colors =
, anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day)
, battles =
, battles_label = Wars
, website =
, commander1 = ...
investigated several possible dam sites in the Guntersville vicinity in hopes of flooding a significant stretch of the river upstream from the city, which had unreliable water levels and had long been an impediment to major navigation in the upper Tennessee Valley. The Corps recommended building a dam at a site approximately upstream from the present dam site in 1914, but never obtained the necessary funding from Congress. More extensive investigations in the 1920s identified several more sites, including the present dam site, which they called the Coles Bend Bar site. After the Tennessee Valley Authority was formed in 1933, the Authority assumed control of all navigation and flood control projects in the Tennessee Valley. In 1935, TVA followed up the Army Corps investigations, deeming a dam at Guntersville necessary to extend the navigation channel beyond Wheeler Lake, which at that time was under construction. Guntersville Dam was authorized November 27, 1935, and construction began a few days later on December 4.
The construction of Guntersville Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of of land, of which were forested and had to be cleared. 1,182 families, 14 cemeteries, and over of roads had to be relocated. A large dike was built to protect the city of Guntersville from reservoir backwaters, and substantial dredging was necessary to extend the navigable channel up to
Hales Bar Dam
Hales Bar Dam was a hydroelectric dam once located on the Tennessee River in Marion County, Tennessee, United States. The Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company began building the dam on October 17, 1905, and completed it on November 11t ...
(this dam has since been dismantled and replaced by Nickajack Dam, shortening Guntersville Lake).
Widows Bar Dam, a small dam and lock approximately upstream from Guntersville Dam, was partially dismantled and submerged under the lake waters.
Guntersville Dam was completed on January 17, 1939, constructed at a cost of $51 million. The dam's lock was designed by the Army Corps of Engineers and went into operation on January 24, 1939. The dam's first generator went online August 8, 1939.
The hydroelectric project's components were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2016.
See also
*
Dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee River
The Tennessee Valley Authority operates the Tennessee River system to provide a wide range of public benefits: year-round navigation, flood damage reduction, affordable electricity, improved water quality and water supply, recreation, and economi ...
*
List of crossings of the Tennessee River
This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Tennessee River from the Ohio River upstream to its source(s).
Crossings
See also
*
*
*
*
* {{Portal-inline, United States
* List of crossings of the Ohio River
*
Tennessee River
...
*
List of Alabama dams and reservoirs
This article lists the dams and reservoirs in Alabama. In 2015, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimated that the state has about 2,271 dams.
Reservoirs and manmade lakes with known dams
See also
* List of dams and reservoirs in the United S ...
References
*
External links
Guntersville Reservoir(TVA site)
{{Tennessee Valley Authority Facilities
Dams on the Tennessee River
Dams in Alabama
Buildings and structures in Marshall County, Alabama
Hydroelectric power plants in Alabama
Tennessee Valley Authority dams
Huntsville-Decatur, AL Combined Statistical Area
Dams completed in 1939
Energy infrastructure completed in 1939
National Register of Historic Places in Marshall County, Alabama
Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama