Dams, TVA and otherwise

While I was in North Carolina, Bobby and Melissa took me on a tour of dams in the North Carolina Western region. Two of the dams we visited were erected and operated by Alcoa. The third dam, of the Fontana Dam, was erected and operated by the TVA at a site previously owned by Alcoa. This dam was built as a war measure to ensure a plentiful supply of electricity to Alcoa to produce aluminum for the war effort. It was built during 1942 1943.

On the map of the TVA dams shown to the right, the white spot is the Montana dam. For some reason of the Alcoa dams are also on this map.

If I have my information correct, the Fontana dam is the highest in the TVA system. Interestingly, he is just about as wide at the base as it is high, around 370 feet. The spillway is a through the right-hand side of the cliff. The lake behind the dam is very low due to travel to any in the Western Carolina area.

The rest of the pics on Fontana are here