Ocoee Dam No. 3 - Background and Construction

Background and Construction

The rapid-flowing Ocoee River's hydroelectric potential has been exploited by private interests, namely the Eastern Tennessee Power Company and its successor, the Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO), since the completion of Ocoee Dam No. 1 in late 1911. While only a 47-mile (76 km) stretch of river remained between Ocoee Dam No. 2 (completed in 1913) and Blue Ridge Dam (completed in 1931), this stretch's average elevation loss of 46 feet (14 m) per mile made a third dam possible. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had surveyed the Ocoee No. 3 dam site in the late 1920s, and TEPCO had already purchased the necessary land and water rights for the dam by the 1930s.

The TVA Act of 1933 created the Tennessee Valley Authority and gave the Authority oversight of the entire Tennessee River watershed, which includes the Ocoee. In 1939, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling forced TEPCO to sell TVA its assets, which included the tract for Ocoee No. 3. While TVA identified the Ocoee No. 3 site as part of its Hiwassee Valley surveys in 1934, the idea for the dam received little attention until the outbreak of World War II in Europe sparked a need for increased aluminum production at the ALCOA plant in Alcoa, Tennessee, which required large amounts of electricity. The Ocoee No. 3 project, along with several other dam projects in the Hiwassee watershed, was authorized on July 16, 1941. Construction began the following day.

Most of the land necessary for the construction of Ocoee Dam No. 3 and its reservoir had been obtained from TEPCO, and thus no residential or cemetery relocations were necessary. Work progressed at a steady pace, and the dam was completed on August 15, 1942. The diversion tunnel was completed in November of the same year, but budget delays prevented the dam's generator from becoming operational until April 30, 1943.