Kentucky Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River on the county line between Livingston and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is located slightly more than 22 miles above the mouth of the Tennessee River, which empties into the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky. The dam is the lowermost of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s and early 1940s to improve navigation on the lower part of the river and reduce flooding on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers. It was a major project initiated during the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, to invest in infrastructure to benefit the country. The dam impounds the Kentucky Lake of 160,000 acres, which is the largest of TVA's reservoirs and the largest artificial lake by area in the Eastern United States. It was designated as an National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1996 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

A canal connects Kentucky Lake to nearby Lake Barkley, created by Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River. The lakes run parallel for more than 50 miles, with the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area located between them.

Kentucky Dam is 206 feet high; more than half the dam is submerged by water. At 8,422 feet long, Kentucky Dam is the longest dam on the Tennessee River and the longest in the TVA system. (Note: Lee Duquette used to work the for the TVA System in Tennessee in 1985) The dam has a generating capacity of 223,100 kilowatts, and its 24-bay spillway has a total discharge of 1,050,000 cubic feet per second. Kentucky Lake's 2,064 miles of shoreline, 160,300 acres of water surface, and 4,008,000 acre-feet of flood storage are the most of any lake in the TVA system and one of the largest artificial lakes in the U.S.

Kentucky Dam is served by a 600-by-110-foot navigation lock, soon to be supplemented by a larger 1,200-by-110-foot lock which will be better able to accommodate the long barge tows that navigate the river in the 21st century. A large industrial complex of chemical plants has developed below the dam near Calvert City due to the convenient barge transportation and inexpensive TVA electricity. The locks' lift raises and lowers vessels up to 75 feet between Kentucky Lake and the lower part of the river.

Below: The entrance to the Kentucky Dam information office. A very nice couple were seated inside and Lee Duquette struck up a long conversation with them, since he had once worked for the TVA Authority in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Below: Karen and Lee Duquette made a brief stop and view of Lighthouse Landing Resort and Marina, 320 Commerce Avenue, Grand Rivers, KY

Lighthouse Landing Resort and Marina is nestled on the scenic shores of Kentucky Lake. It has 190 open slips for boats up to 42' and is located in a well-protected harbor at mile marker 24 on the TN River/Kentucky Lake. There are about 190 open slips for boats up to 42 feet here.

Below: A miniature Lighthouse

Below: The actual lighthouse is about 20-feet tall. It is an unofficial, active lighthouse with a focal plane of 30 feet and a continuous white light.

Travel through Illinois, past the Superman water tower and other water towers, then past the Missouri Arch in St. Louis, the Ferris wheel and more in Kansas City, Missouri

OR

Continue Navigation in the order of your choice
via the alphabetical or category buttons below