Norris Dam

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Norris Dam

Norris Dam is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in East Tennessee. It was the first dam constructed by TVA in the 1930s.

Norris Dam is a straight concrete gravity-type dam. The dam is 1860 feet (570 m) long and 265 feet (81 m) high. Norris Lake is the largest reservoir on a tributary of the Tennessee River, with 33,840 acres (137 km²) of water surface and 809 miles (1302 km) of shoreline. The dam is equipped with two 50 MW electrical generators.

The dam is named in honor of Nebraska Senator George Norris, who was a longtime supporter of governmentally-owned power in general and TVA in particular.

Hungarian-American architect Roland Wank revised the initial plans from Bureau of Reclamation engineers, and gave the poured-concrete Norris Dam a modernist style that was controversial, advanced for this time and place, and landed Wank the job of Chief Architect for the TVA from 1933 through 1944.

Construction began in October, 1933. The dam was completed in March, 1936, constructed at a cost of $36 million. Approximately 2900 families were relocated from reservoir lands during the construction. The town of Norris, Tennessee was initially built as a planned community to house the workers involved in the construction of this dam.

The building of Norris Dam and the changes it brought to the region inspired films, books, stage plays, and songs. Folk songs from the construction period express enthusiasm for the benefits that the dam project brought to the region.^[1]

Although Norris was the first dam built by TVA, it is not the oldest dam owned and operated by the agency. TVA subsequently purchased the assets of the former Tennessee Electric Power Company, including some dams which were built earlier.

The reservoir is often relatively clear, especially for one of this age, due to the rocky nature of the beds of most of the tributary streams, and is considered a prime destination for fishermen. Due to the height of the dam and the relative depth and steepness of the valleys of the some of the streams impounded, parts of this lake, especially the downstream portions near the dam, are very deep for a man-made impoundment of this kind.