Robert S. Kerr Reservoir is located within the Cookson Hills, on the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...
Haskell
Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically-typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research and industrial applications, Haskell has pioneered a number of programming lan ...
, and Muskogee counties in eastern Oklahoma, US. It is about eight miles south of the nearest major town,
Sallisaw, Oklahoma
Sallisaw is a city and county seat in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population was 8,880, an 11.2 percent increase over the figure of 7,891 recorded in 2000. Sallisaw is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas ...
. The reservoir is impounded by Robert S. Kerr Lock and Dam at
river mile
A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle roa ...
336.2 (km 541.1) on the Arkansas River, just a few miles below its confluence with the
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which provides for barge navigation on the Arkansas River and some of its tributaries. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the locks and navigation system.
The lock and dam were constructed by the Corps of Engineers. Prior to starting construction in 1963, the project was identified as Short Mountain Lock and Dam, but was renamed in honor of the late Oklahoma Senator, who had spent much of his political career pushing for the Arkansas River to be made navigable.Townsend, Jay. "5 Oklahoma Locks and Dams on the Ark. River Navigation System." Pace Setter Live. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. November 10, 2016. Accessed September 22, 2017. The project was completed in 1970 at a cost of $94.566 million ($501 million in 2007 dollars).Dollar worth calculator at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis The dam also contains a small hydroelectric power plant with four units capable of producing a combined total of 110
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
s.
In 2002, the
I-40 bridge disaster
The I-40 bridge disaster was a bridge collapse that occurred southeast of Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, United States at 7:45 a.m. on May 26, 2002. Freight barges being transported on the Arkansas River collided with a pier supporting the Inters ...
occurred when a barge hit a bridge that carried
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
over the reservoir.
Recreation
The
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
and surrounds are popular destinations for boating, fishing and hunting. Facilities at the lake include boat ramps, picnic areas, RV and tent campsites, swimming beaches, hiking trails and concession stands. The Army Corps of Engineers also manages over surrounding the lake for public hunting. Observation decks at the lake's visitors center allow guests to view barges and private watercraft as they pass through the lock system on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.
The lock, dam, and reservoir are named after
Robert S. Kerr
Robert Samuel Kerr (September 11, 1896 – January 1, 1963) was an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. Kerr formed a petroleum company before turning to politics. He served as the 12th governor of Oklahoma from 1943 to 1947 and ...
, former governor of Oklahoma and U.S. senator from Oklahoma, who died in 1963.
Gallery
File:USACE Robert S Kerr Lock and Dam.jpg
File:Robert S Kerr Reservoir aerial view 1.jpg, Aerial view upriver from lock and dam
Kerr
Kerr may refer to:
People
*Kerr (surname)
*Kerr (given name) Places
;United States
*Kerr Township, Champaign County, Illinois
*Kerr, Montana, A US census-designated place
*Kerr, Ohio, an unincorporated community
*Kerr County, Texas
Other uses
...