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{{Infobox dam
| name                 = Nickajack Dam
| image                = Nickajack Dam.jpg 
| image_caption        = Nickajack Dam looking upstream
| name_official        = Nickajack Dam
| dam_crosses          = [[Tennessee River]]
| res_name             = [[Nickajack Lake]]
| res_surface          = {{convert|10370|acres|km2|abbr=on}}
| res_elevation        = {{convert|633.5|ft|abbr=on}}
| location             = [[Marion County, Tennessee]]
| country              = [[United States]]
| operator             = [[Tennessee Valley Authority]]
| dam_length           = {{convert|3767|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| dam_height           = {{convert|81|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| dam_width_base       =
| construction_began   = April 1, 1964
| opening              = December 14, 1967
| coordinates          = {{coord|35|00|15|N|85|37|10|W|type:landmark_region:US-TN|display=inline,title}}
| extra                =
}}
'''Nickajack Dam''' is a [[hydroelectric dam]] in [[Marion County, Tennessee|Marion County]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Tennessee]].  It is one of nine dams on the [[Tennessee River]] owned and operated by the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]], which built the dam in the mid-1960s to replace the outdated [[Hales Bar Dam]] {{convert|6|mi|km}} upstream.  The dam impounds the {{convert|10370|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[Nickajack Lake]] and feeds into [[Guntersville Lake]].  Nickajack Dam is named for a [[Cherokee]] village once located just upstream from the dam (the site is now submerged).  The village was the namesake for [[Nickajack Cave]], which was partially flooded by the reservoir.<ref name=report1>Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Nickajack Project: A Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, Initial Operations, and Costs'', Technical Report No. 16 (Knoxville, Tenn.: Tennessee Valley Authority, 1972), pp. 1-9, 32-34, 284.</ref>

==Location==

Nickajack Dam is located {{convert|424|mi|km}} above the mouth of the Tennessee River, near the point where the states of Tennessee, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and [[Alabama]] meet.  This stretch of the river marks a region where the river begins to exit the once treacherous [[Tennessee River Gorge]] en route to the flatlands around [[Guntersville, Alabama]].  The [[Sequatchie River]] empties into the dam's tailwaters, and the city of [[South Pittsburg, Tennessee|South Pittsburg]] is just over {{convert|5|mi|km}} downstream from the dam.  Nickajack Lake stretches northeast for over {{convert|46|mi|km}}, all the way to the base of [[Chickamauga Dam]] in [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]].  Tennessee State Highway 156 passes just south of Nickajack Dam, and [[Interstate 24]] passes a few miles to the north.

==Capacity==

Nickajack Dam is {{convert|81|ft}} high and  {{convert|3767|ft}} long.  Its reservoir has {{convert|179|mi}} of shoreline and {{convert|10370|acres}} of water surface.  The dam's 10 spillway bays have a combined discharge of {{convert|360000|cuft/s}}.  The electrical generating capacity of Nickajack is 104 [[megawatt]]s.<ref name=web1>Tennessee Valley Authority, [http://www.tva.com/sites/nickajack.htm Nickajack Reservoir].  Retrieved: 15 January 2009.</ref>

Nickajack is serviced by a {{convert|600|by|110|ft|m|0|adj=on}} auxiliary lock that can lift or lower as many as nine large barges at a time {{convert|41|ft|m}} between Guntersville Lake and Nickajack Lake.  The dam's original design allowed for an {{convert|800|by|110|ft|m|0|adj=on}} main lock beside the auxiliary, but it was never completed. This lock, as well as every lock on the Tennessee River, is operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.<ref name=report1 /><ref name=web1 />

==Background and construction==
[[Image:Nickajack-dam-design-tva1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|TVA's design plan for Nickajack Dam, circa 1964]]

Before the completion of [[Hales Bar Dam]] in 1913, the Tennessee River Gorge was one of the major impediments{{emdash}}along with [[Muscle Shoals, Alabama|Muscle Shoals]] and the [[Elk River (Alabama-Tennessee)|Elk River]] shoals{{emdash}}to year-round navigation on the Tennessee River.  Along with unpredictable water levels, the gorge was filled with numerous water hazards, some of which had been given nicknames such as "The Suck", "The Skillet", and "The Pan."  In the early 1900s, the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] realized that a dam near the southwestern end of the gorge would flood the water hazards and eliminate the gorge's rapid downstream current.  Chattanooga engineer Josephus Conn Guild offered to raise funds to build this dam in exchange for rights to the dam's electrical output.  After receiving authorization from Congress in 1904, he organized the [[Chattanooga and Tennessee Electric Power Company|Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company]] (later TEPCO) in 1905, and the company began building Hales Bar Dam in October of that year.<ref>Gilbert Govan and James Livingood, ''The Chattanooga Country, 1540-1962: From Tomahawks to TVA'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1963), pp. 445-447.</ref> Hales Bar's weak limestone foundation{{emdash}}which hadn't been considered in the selection of the dam site{{emdash}}presented numerous obstacles from the outset, but the dam was finally completed in 1913.<ref name=report1 />

[[File:USACE Nickajack Lock and Dam.jpg|left|210px|thumb|Aerial view of Nickajack's lock]]

In 1939, after a contentious court battle, TEPCO was forced to sell its assets{{emdash}}including Hales Bar Dam{{emdash}}to the Tennessee Valley Authority.<ref>Timothy Ezzell, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=579 Jo Conn Guild]."  ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2002.  Retrieved: 15 January 2009.</ref>  The dam had been leaking since its construction, and TVA immediately initiated a series of foundation improvements that by 1943 had succeeded in halting the leaks.  In 1960, however, the leaks had returned, spilling at an alarming {{convert|2,000|cuft/s|m3/s}}.  Around the same time, TVA began expanding locks on its dams to at least {{convert|600|ft|m}} to accommodate the increase in traffic the river had experienced since [[World War II]], and it was determined that expanding the Hales Bar lock would be "prohibitively" expensive.  Rather than spend the necessary expenses to upgrade Hales Bar, a decision was made in 1963 to build a new dam altogether on a more solid bedrock a few miles downstream.<ref name=report1 />

The Nickajack Dam project was authorized January 9, 1964, and construction began April 1, 1964.  Funding set aside for repair work on Hales Bar was transferred to the Nickajack project.  The reservoir's construction{{emdash}}which basically involved extending the Hales Bar Reservoir {{convert|6|mi|km}} downstream to Nickajack{{emdash}}required the purchase of {{convert|8300|acre|ha}}, {{convert|500|acre|ha}} of which had to be cleared.  82 families and {{convert|8|mi|km}} of roads had to be relocated.  Two generators and several switchyard parts were moved from Hales Bar Dam to the new dam.  Construction was completed on December 14, 1967, at a cost of $73 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|73000000|1967}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}).  Operations at Hales Bar Dam were halted the following day, and by September 1968, Hales Bar Dam had been dismantled and its reservoir merged with Nickajack Lake.<ref name=report1 />

==See also==
{{stack|{{Portal|United States|Water|Renewable energy}}}}
*[[Nickajack]]
*[[Hales Bar Dam]]
*[[Dams and reservoirs of the Tennessee River]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Nickajack Dam}}
*[https://www.tva.com/energy/our-power-system/hydroelectric/nickajack TVA: Nickajack]
*{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130103095653/http://www.industcards.com/hydro-usa-tn.htm Hydroelectric plants in Tennessee]}}

{{Tennessee River Dams}}
{{Tennessee Valley Authority Facilities}}

[[Category:Dams on the Tennessee River]]
[[Category:Dams in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Marion County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Hydroelectric power plants in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Tennessee Valley Authority dams]]
[[Category:Dams completed in 1967]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1967]]