The Nolichucky Dam
The Nolichucky Dam was built in 1913 as a hydropower project. However, due to siltation of the reservoir, the dam was taken out of service in 1972, and the reservoir was converted into a wildlife management area. Boat access and camping are available at nearby Kinser Park.
The dam is a concrete gravity overflow type dam 94 feet high and 482 feet long. The dam has an ogee-type spillway with a flashboard crest. Its reservoir, Davy Crockett Lake (named for the folk figure who was born a few miles upstream from the modern dam site in 1786), has roughly 800 acres of water surface
Nolichucky Dam was built by the Tennessee Eastern Electric Company (TEEC) in 1912-1913 for hydroelectricity generation. The dam was initially equipped with two generators, and TEEC added two more in 1923. In 1941, the East Tennessee Light & Power Company obtained ownership of the dam when it purchased TEEC's assets. The Tennessee Valley Authority purchased East Tennessee Light & Power in 1945 for a lump sum that included $1.47 million for Nolichucky Dam. TVA made various improvements, and at its height, the dam was capable of producing 10,640 kilowatts of electricity. TVA used the dam for power generation until 1972, when sediment buildup in Davy Crockett Lake made continued electricity generation impractical. The dam and reservoir are now used for flood control and recreation.
The Hydrology of the Nolichucky River:
The Nolichucky River rises as the confluence (Confluence refer to:* Confluence , the point where two or more bodies of water meet and merge*)of the North Toe River and the Cane River near the community of Huntdale, North Carolina. The stream succeeds the North Toe as the boundary between Yancey County and Mitchell County, North Carolina . Trending roughly westward, it flows along the north flank of Flattop Mountain. The gorge is especially steep on its north side. Geologically speaking this area is predominantly underlain by metamorphic rock (Metamorphic rock* is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change*) of the Precambrian age.
The Precambrian Era
The Precambrian is an informal name for the span of time before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is divided into several eons of the geologic timescale. It spans from the formation of Earth around 4500 Ma to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, when macroscopic hard-shelled animals first appeared.
More Hydrology of the Nolichucky River:
The river then enters Unicoi County, Tennessee , flowing through ranges of the Bald Mountains and the Unaka Mountains (Unaka Range*The Unaka Range is a mountain range on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. It is a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains physiographic province.*) The Unakas stretch approximately from the Nolichucky River to then turning northwest, the stream is bridged by the Appalachian Trail . Near Erwin, two tributary streams, South Indian Creek and North Indian Creek, join the Nolichucky River. Turning more to the north, the stream is paralleled for several miles by State Route 81, crossing into Washington County . The river cuts between several mountains at this point, including Rich Mountain to the south and Buffalo Mountain to the north.
Shortly after entering Washington County, the river makes a horseshoe bend near Embreeville, where it is bridged by Tennessee 81 for the first time. At the northeastern end of Embreeville Mountain, the stream emerges from a large gap (Water gap* A water gap is an opening or notch which flowing water has carved through a mountain range. Water gaps often offer a practical route for roads and railroads to cross a mountain ridge*), and, turning west-southwest, is bridged by Tennessee 81 again. This region is known as the Ridge and Valley( Ridge-and-valley Appalachians*The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending from southeastern New York through northwestern*)province, underlain primarily by sedimentary rock (Sedimentary rock* Sedimentary rock is the type of rock that is formed by sedimentation of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution*)of the Lower Paleozoic Era. The river then continues west-southwest for several miles, paralleled by State Route 107. The river leaves the roadside near Mt. Carmel . From there it flows northwest over a curving course to Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park. Situated along the Nolichucky River, the park consists of centered around the traditional birthplace of legendary Tennessee frontiersman, soldier, and politician Davy Crockett.. Many tributary creeks join the river in Washington and Greene Counties. At the county line one of the larger tributaries, Big Limestone Creek, joins the river.
Wrapping it up
From Crockett's birthplace the river flows southwestward, following the trends of the Ridge and Valley province's underlying geology. Bridged by Tennessee 107 just east of Tusculum College , the stream continues southwestward, later bridged by State Route 350 just above an impoundment caused by Nolichucky Dam (Nolichucky Dam*Nolichucky Dam is a dam on the Nolichucky River near Greeneville, Tennessee, maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority*). The dam is located just over upstream from the mouth of the Nolichucky, and impounds Davy Crockett Lake, which extends upstream from the dam.The dam is a concrete gravity. This dam (Dam*A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions.*)was constructed as a hydroelectric project by the former Tennessee Electric Power Company in 1912. The dam was sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted. The TVA continued to operate the dam for electrical power purposes until the 1970s. The degree of siltation of the reservoir, called Davy Crockett Lake, had made continued efforts to operate the facility for hydroelectric purposes impracticable. The agency retired the dam as a power source but continues to maintain it and to use it for flood control and recreational purposes.
The stream then flows almost due west and is then bridged by U.S. Highway 321. Just before the Greene County–Cocke County , line the river is bridged by State Route 340. Shortly below this point, the river becomes the Greene County–Cocke County line. A few miles below this point it is bridged by Knob Creek Road, a Cocke County road. Slightly south of Interstate 81, Greene County, Cocke County, and Hamblen County come to a point at a bend in river, where Lick Creek joins the river. From this point on, the meander (Meander* A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a river erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternatively eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them.*) stream forms the Hamblen County–Cocke County line. The confluence of the Nolichucky with the French Broad River (*The French Broad River flows from near Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee.*) Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River. It was originally named for being one of two broad rivers in western North Carolina occurs in the upstream portion of the Douglas Lake.
Getting credit for this Earthcache
1.)Take a picture of the dam fall behind you with your GPS. althrough is this not requires but would be nice
2.) Using the information above you which type of rocks do you see around you?
3.)Which watershed does this river belong to at the point of the Dam?