Norris Dam

Norris Dam
Norris Dam
	Norris Dam and Powerhouse, circa 2021.
	Location of Norris Dam in Tennessee
Official name	Norris Dam
Location	Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States
Coordinates	36°13′27″N 84°05′29″W / 36.22417°N 84.09139°W
Purpose	Flood control, electricity
Construction began	October 1, 1933
Opening date	March 4, 1936
Construction cost	US$32.3 million (equivalent to $701,793,854 in 2023)
Designed by	Roland A. Wank
Operator(s)	Tennessee Valley Authority
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Clinch River
Height	265 feet (81 m)
Length	1,860 feet (570 m)
Reservoir
Creates	Norris Lake
Total capacity	2,552,000 acre⋅ft (3,148,000 dam3)
Catchment area	2,912 sq mi (7,540 km2)
Power Station
Commission date	1936
Turbines	2 x 66 MW Francis-type
Installed capacity	132 MW

Norris Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control structure located on the Clinch River in Anderson County and Campbell County, Tennessee, United States. The dam was the first major project for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which had been created in 1933 to bring economic development to the region and control the rampant flooding that had long plagued the Tennessee Valley.^[1] The dam was named in honor of Nebraska Senator George Norris (1861–1944), a longtime supporter of government-owned utilities in general, and supporter of TVA in particular. The infrastructure project was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

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, the largest reservoir on a tributary of the Tennessee River, has 33,840 acres (137 km²) of water surface and 809 miles (1302 km) of shoreline. The dam has a maximum generating capacity of 126 megawatts.^[5]

^ ^a ^b Tennessee Valley Authority (1940). The Norris Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Tennessee Valley Authority's First Water Control Project. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
^ "The history of TVA's Norris Dam". Knoxville News Sentinel. July 25, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Norris Dam". National Performance of Dams Program, National Inventory of Dams. Stanford University. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
^ "Hydroelectric Plants in Tennessee". IndustCards. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
^ Tennessee Valley Authority, Norris. Retrieved: 27 February 2020.

[book1-1] Tennessee Valley Authority (1940). The Norris Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Tennessee Valley Authority's First Water Control Project. United States Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 15, 2021.

[knoxnews2016-2] "The history of TVA's Norris Dam". Knoxville News Sentinel. July 25, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2023.

[NPDP-3] "Norris Dam". National Performance of Dams Program, National Inventory of Dams. Stanford University. Retrieved 2012-10-10.

[4] "Hydroelectric Plants in Tennessee". IndustCards. Retrieved 13 May 2014.

[web1-5] Tennessee Valley Authority, Norris. Retrieved: 27 February 2020.

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