Interessepunkt
Fontana Dam og besøkssenter
15 lokalkjente anbefaler
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Matt & Mattie
January 2, 2022
Largest dam east of the Mississippi River. Truly a sight to see!
Dana
May 5, 2021
Construction began in 1942 and because of the urgent need for electric power during World War II, it was finished in just 36 months! At 480 ft, the equivalent of a 50-story skyscraper, it is the highest dam in TVA and the tallest dam east of the Rockies. It's located on the Little Tennessee River.
Max
June 14, 2022
See this on the way to the Dragon’s Tail. Fontana is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States; at the time of its construction, it was the fourth-tallest dam in the world. The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) began investigating the Little Tennessee Valley around 1910 in hopes of finding a place for a water power source for the massive amounts of electricity needed at its aluminum production operations at nearby Alcoa, Tennessee. In 1913, Alcoa purchased the Tallassee Power Company (now Tapoco), and by 1930 the two entities had completed Cheoah and Calderwood dams, as well as Santeetlah Dam on the Cheoah River. By the mid-1930s, Alcoa had assessed the Fontana site and had purchased the initial 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) for the dam's construction. In 1935, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which was concerned with the Little Tennessee's effect on flood control in the greater Tennessee Valley, began negotiating with Alcoa to assume control of the Fontana project. Although Alcoa preferred that TVA build the dam, TVA was unable to get necessary federal funding for the project until the outbreak of World War II in 1941. Emergency wartime initiatives called for a drastic increase in aluminum production. On August 14, 1941, TVA and ALCOA signed the "Fontana Agreement," which gave TVA possession of Fontana and control over the releases and output of Tapoco's Little Tennessee Valley dams, and in return guaranteed that Alcoa would be the primary benefactor of the dams' electrical output for at least twenty years. The U.S. Congress authorized funding on December 17, 1941, and construction of Fontana Dam began on January 1, 1942. The building of Fontana Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of 68,292 acres (27,637 ha) of land, 5,125 acres (2,074 ha) of which were forested and had to be cleared. Some 1,311 families, 1,047 graves, and more than 60 miles (97 km) of roads had to be relocated out of the project area. The towns of Fontana, Bushnell, Forney, and Judson were completely inundated by the formation of Lake Fontana. The temporary village of Welch Cove (later renamed Fontana Village) was constructed just south of the dam to house the project's workers, whose numbers had reached 5,000 by 1943 in spite of nationwide manpower shortages. Fontana Village has been adapted and expanded as a summer resort; some of the original 1940s buildings still are used. The design of the dam was unusual for TVA at the time. It was feared that the 2,818,000 yd³ (2,155,000 m³) of concrete required for the dam would create a structure so massive, that heat released during its setting would be trapped for years, and would eventually cause cracks to form. To aid the release of this heat, engineers divided the dam into construction joints and outfitted them with grout pipes and cooling coils. The dam's spillway presented another problem, as engineers were worried that the water's 400-foot (120 m) drop would cause erosion issues at the dam's foundation. A special spillway was thus designed that drains water out through two 34-foot (10.3 m) diameter spill pipes into a diversion tunnel equipped with a deflection system. The dam's design is largely the work of TVA chief architect Roland Wank. Fontana Dam was completed at a cost of $70,420,688.48 (equivalent to $839 million in 2022), and the gates closed on November 11, 1944. Two generating units were placed in operation on January 20, 1945, in time to provide crucial energy for aluminum production in the closing months of World War II. Over 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) along Fontana Lake's north shore were eventually transferred to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and several thousand acres along the south shore were transferred to the U.S. Forest Service.
See this on the way to the Dragon’s Tail. Fontana is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States; at the time of its construction, it was the fourth-tallest dam in the world. The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The Aluminum Compan…
Deborah
July 12, 2021
At 480 feet (150 m) high, Fontana is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States; at the time of its construction, it was the fourth-tallest dam in the world.[1] The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The dam impounds the 10,230-acre (4,140 ha) Fontana Lake, which spreads across a scenic stretch of the Little Tennessee along the southwestern boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Appalachian Trail crosses the top of the dam. Fontana is named for the now-inundated town of Fontana, a former lumber and copper-mining hub once located at the mouth of Eagle Creek.[1] The town's name was derived from the Italian word for "fountain."[2]
At 480 feet (150 m) high, Fontana is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States; at the time of its construction, it was the fourth-tallest dam in the world.[1] The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The dam impounds the 10,230-acre (…
Teresa
January 30, 2021
makes a nice day trip. beautiful scenic drive.
Beliggenhet
Fontana Dam, NC