Learn about the TVA Raccoon Mtn Project

[pjflan7]

This place is only 3 miles from my mother's house and I never knew it was there until my uncle told me about it. Crazy!! So I'll tell you about it......First some background.....I went to Chattanooga, my boyhood home, to visit family for a few days and to play tour guide to my in laws who came in to meet everyone. In any case, the last time I went down there, my uncle told me of this TVA location that I needed to see. So on this trip I took my my wife, son, and two of my daughters up to see it. Mandy decided to stay and play with grandma. Chattanooga is situated in the middle of the Tennessee river valley and was historically troubled by extensive flooding caused by the river. Franklin Roosevelt authorized the creation of TVA, the Tennessee Valley Authority, an entity that was to both control flooding and to harness the power of the river for electrical power. TVA built a series of dams...alot of them to do this. These dams generate the vast majority of the electricity to the Tennessee Valley. While TVA did build a number of coal fired generation plants, there are several spots where the dams are associated with nuclear reactor facilities. The place we visited, you would not know is there for the most part. The Raccoon Mountain project is a feat of amazing engineering. Here is what they did. There is a dam on the river that creates Nickajack Lake and therefore slows the flow of the river.
In this slow area is located Raccoon Mtn which is a mountain made of sandstone, shale etc.....a fairly soft mountain. Starting in 1970 and ending in 1979, the TVA drilled from the the river to center of the mountain and then drilled up all the way through to the top. TVA then hollowed out the top of the mountain and created a multi billion gallon reservoir. A pump station and a series of 4 turbines were installed at the bottom and center of the mountain. Here is what happens.....TVA uses some electricity to pump water up 1000 feet to the reservoir which covers the area of 453 football fields and during high usage moments, primarily the hottest days of the year due to AC use, they dump the water down the shaft and spin the turbines, thus generating more electricity than they originally used. Prior to 9/11, you could go inside and view the facility but all I can show you is the road leading deep into the heart of the mountain.....If you are interested in more info, you can google TVA Raccoon Mtn.


The road leading into the mountain



My daughter standing on one of the used impellers



At the water's edge a thousand feet down you can see the concrete breakwater structure that prevents erosion to the river.....you can fish off of this structure. It is here that water is pumped up at night and released as needed...the exit/entry point of water



Here is a view to the right of the pumping area.



Hope you enjoyed class today!

[teedlepeep]

Very interesting lesson !! I had never heard about any of this before. Also, great shots to go along with it. I am amazed at how big that impellor is and how creepy the under ground road is.

[leonaashlee]

Wow A history lesson...that was great..and the shots are really good. Love the first one.

[Vinam]

WoW Patrick an outstanding presentation , quite interesting story line, really well written ( you have a talent for flowing text out in a casual easy reading way ) .. Love your photos, all of them are great quailty and show very interesting and different aspects of a really cool place.

Love the whole thing,, great job Bud !

Vin

[mpascal]

When you look at the engineering and technology that makes our lives comfortable without us ever knowing about it, its amazing. Great captures and thanks for the info.

Michael

[Chewys Dad]

Thanks for the history lessons Patrick! Actually very interesting. I like the one with your Daughter, she makes a great model! Try a few close ups next time!
Thanks for sharing these
Michael.

[pjflan7]

alright Michael......is this good enough?



or maybe this one taken down by the breakwater?

[Ella1267]

and I thought I was done with school.....nice set of photos....very nice looking daughter.

[f4fwildcat]

Very beautiful young lady. And the TVA's not too shabby either.

[jakethepig]

Wow, great lesson in words and pictures. That is some place. Your photographs comliment the words so well. Nice to show your daughter stood on the impeller, it gives a great feel for the size. Excellent lesson Patrick. You make a great teacher.

Dave.