Grand Lake O' The Cherokees - Pensacola Dam

Pensacola Dam

Pensacola Dam is claimed to be the longest multiple arch dam in the world, its main span consisting of 51 arches totaling 5,145 feet (1,568 m) in length, and supporting a walkway and narrow two lane highway. A 120 megawatt, 6-unit powerhouse sits at the west end, with 21 spillways on the east end. The project's chief engineer was W. R. Holway (who was also responsible for Tulsa's Spavinaw water project), while the architect of record for the PWA-style Art Deco design of the dam and powerhouse was Tulsan John Duncan Forsyth.

Another mile east, through the town of Disney, lie two small sister dams known as "the spillways" with an additional 21 gates, surrounded by public parks and launching ramp. 510,000 cubic yards (390,000 m³) of concrete were used in the construction of Pensacola Dam, poured 24 hours a day in just 20 months with depression-era labor. The lake, and the electric utilities, as well as other projects in the region, along the Grand River are administered by the Grand River Dam Authority, an agency created by the Oklahoma legislature in 1935.

Grand Lake has a surface area of 46,500 acres (188 km2) of water and 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of shoreline. Unlike other lakes in Oklahoma, Grand Lake is a deep and mostly rocky lake. Its mean elevation is 742 ft (226 m) above sea level. In recent years, low fall elevations of 741 were kept by the GRDA to allow millet seeding for migratory waterfowl, resulting in conflict between property owners, environmentalists, and federal agencies. While not expressly built for flood control, Grand Lake contributes to the flood-prone Arkansas River watershed. The Army Corps of Engineers controls releases into the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System when lake levels exceed 745 feet (227 m), although locking into Grand Lake is not possible. Grand Lake and its neighbor, Lake Hudson (also managed by the GRDA), are the only two major lakes in the state where one can build directly on the waterfront.