A Brief History

A Brief History. Wheeler Lock and Dam. In January 1933, just before TVA was formed, the US Army corps of Engineers began working on Wheeler Lock and Dam to improve navigation on the treacherous upper Muscle Shoals and Elk river Shoals. , When TVA was created that May, it took over constrution of the project with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers continuing to work on the design. The lock was completed in 1935 and, after reservoir filled, was opened for operation on December 1, 1936. Standing 60 feet wide by 360 feet long by 53 feet high, it opened navigation on the Tennessee River at Wheeler Reservoir, which encompassed 67,100-acres, 74 miles of continuous navigable channel, a safe minimum depth of nine feet and over 1,063 miles of protected shoreline. , In June 2, 1961 the lock's north land wall failed, severely damaging the lock and halting all shipping on the upstream 375-mile section of the Tennessee River. This not only hurt the region's economy, but also threatened the nation's space program: NASA's first Saturn rocket booster was to be shipped by barge through the lock from Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., to Cape for test firing that fall at Canaveral, Florida (See the other sign for more on the Saturn Rocket transport) , TVA sprang to action, rebuilding an even bigger, better lock in less than a year. Completed in April 1962 and standing 60; wide by 400' long by 52' high, that rebuilt structure is now designated as the auxiliary lock. An even larger "super lock" (110' wide by 600' long by 52' high) was completed in May 1963. As the primary navigational passage through Wheeler Dam, it continues to serve the every-growing demand for river commerce that is vital part of the region's economic growth. , To learn more visit tva.com