Norris Dam

Norris Dam
Norris Dam
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 / 36.22417; -84.09139Coordinates: 36°13′27″N 84°05′29″W / 36.22417°N 84.09139°W / 36.22417; -84.09139
Construction began	October 1, 1933
Opening date	March 4, 1936
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. Its construction in the mid-1930s 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. The dam was named in honor of Nebraska Senator George Norris (1861–1944), a longtime supporter of government-owned power in general, and supporter of TVA in particular. The project infrastructure 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 132,000 kilowatts.

The Clinch River flows southwestward for 300 miles (480 km) from its headwaters in Virginia through the rugged, sparsely populated hills of northeastern Tennessee before emptying into the Tennessee River near Kingston. Norris Dam is located at just over 79 miles (127 km) upstream from the mouth of the Clinch, immediately downstream from the river's confluence with Cove Creek, which joins the river from the northwest. The reservoir includes parts of Anderson, Campbell, Union, Claiborne, and Grainger counties. Norris Reservoir spans a 73-mile (117 km) stretch of the Clinch from the dam to River Ridge at the Claiborne-Grainger county line. The reservoir also covers the lower 56 miles (90 km) of the Powell River, which empties into the Clinch 10 miles (16 km) upstream from Norris Dam. The dam's tailwaters are part of Melton Hill Lake, which stretches for 56 miles (90 km) along the Clinch from Norris to Melton Hill Dam.