1943 182mwNet TVA Douglas Dam on French Broad River

(Satellite)

TVA
As you can surmise by the date of 1943, this was another dam built to help supply electricity to for the war effort. It was completed on a crash schedule in just 12 months and 17 days.
"Birdwatchers enjoy the fall migration of shore birds, wading birds, and other waterfowl flock to Douglas from late July to early October. The birds rest and feed on the muddy shoreline and in areas of shallow water exposed as the reservoir level is lowered to winter flood control levels."
The text says it generates 111mwNet, but the list of facts specifies 182.
Height: 201'    Length: 1,705'   
Variance between summer and winter water levels: 44'    Flood-storage capacity: 1m acre-feet

I'm learning that eastern Kentucky and Tennessee is wilderness. I could not find a nearby town for the title. That makes the fast construction even more remarkable because they had to also build roads and housing for the workers.

TennesseeRiverValley
"TVA used the same plans it had drawn up for Cherokee Dam in order to complete Douglas Dam so quickly."

 Housing had to be built for 6,000 workers. Most sources will site aluminum production as the war time effort that needed electricity. Some sources, like this one, also admit that the electricity was needed for "Manhattan Project’s nuclear weapons research in Oak Ridge." There was some opposition because the reservoir displaced 525 families and inundated 32 cemeteries. It also threatened a key contributor to the area's economy, canning, because the reservoir covered thousands of acres of fertile farmland that was used to growing canned foods. "Dandridge, one of the state’s oldest towns, would have been drowned by the original dam plans. Citizens and local government leaders banded together to save their beloved town. The people of Dandridge pleaded their case to an unlikely figure, Eleanor Roosevelt. Their main argument for why their city should be saved was the origin of the town’s name. Dandridge is named after the wife of America’s first president. Dandridge was Martha Washington’s maiden name. Their fight was successful, and Eleanor promised that a saddle dam would be built to keep the reservoir from overtaking their city. A saddle dam, also known as a dike, builds up the sides of a reservoir where there are low points to prevent flooding. Today, the saddle dam is affectionately called “the dike that saved Dandridge” and the Jefferson County Courthouse has a mark representing where the water level would be without the dike." [WhitePineTN]

The construction interval is even more remarkable because they had a 4-week delay due to flooding. And it wasn't just the plans that were provided by the Cherokee Dam: "TVA completed nearby Cherokee Dam just a few weeks earlier and so was able to take advantage of the immediate availability of drawings, heavy equipment and seasoned engineers and construction workers on the Douglas project." The TVA wanted to build a dam here since 1936. But the impact on the canning industry deferred those plans. The bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, ended the debate. [TVA-democracy]

The saddle dam was easy to find.

Satellite

Street View, Jun 2021

I found several photos of the spillway, but this is the only one I saw of it spilling water.

donald sears, Aug 2021

TVA posted nine photos with the comment: "The construction of Douglas Dam began precisely 81 years ago today [Feb 2]! After the events of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Douglas Dam Bill was signed by congress on January 30, 1942. That afternoon TVA received a teletype from Washington that said, “DOUGLAS DAM BILL JUST SIGNED. START DIGGING.” and within four days, 1,800 employees were working on the dam. Through sheer determination, the dam was finished in little over a year! Learn more here: http://tva.me/PoZ450MH3b5."

 [Actually, the bill was signed on Jan 30, 1942. [TVA-democracy] Not on Feb 2 as implied by the Facebook comment.]

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2024: Hurricane Helene Impact

TVA
We are managing record amounts of water from the French Broad, Nolichucky, and Pigeon Rivers flowing into Douglas Dam, holding that water back to protect downstream areas like Knoxville, Lenoir City, and even Chattanooga. In a controlled manner, we are releasing a record amount of water, over 450,000 gallons per second [60kcfs], using the dam's generating turbines and spillway gates. Douglas, one of our largest tributary dams, is stable and secure.

The Nolichuchy Dam had a flow of 174kcfs, which more than doubled their previous record flow seen in 1977. I followed the river downstream and Douglas Dam is the next dam to see that flow.

Note the men and crane above the gate that is being opened. They can adjust just one gate at a time at this dam.

WVLT
Check out this video of a gate opening at Douglas Dam Friday afternoon as East Tennessee was dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Helene. All gates have since been opened. https://tinyurl.com/4ummrv4f

Facebook reel

Facebook reel
[The text I didn't expose by clicking "... See more" was "wide open." (I hate Facebook reels for so many reasons.)]
Neil Jacobson shared
Wow

Andy Michel: That's only 60kcfs.

David Thomas commented on a post
Here's what the TVA system status board looked like yesterday [Sep 28, 2024].

I found the video from which the above screenshot was obtained.

TVA

We continue to manage the massive amounts of water from this unprecedented rainfall event. Our system is doing what it is intended to do — we are using our large tributary dams to store water to protect downstream communities.

Eastern portions of our region received between 4-19+" of rainfall in the last few days. To manage the water, we are releasing over 435,000 gallons of water per second [58kcfs] out of Douglas Dam near Sevierville, TN, as we recover flood storage in our tributary system.