Scenic North Alabama: Bellefonte Nuclear Plant near Scottsboro

view from Hwy 72, Hollywood, AL near Scottsboro











on the drive up to the facility

























reactors (background) and cooling towers (foreground) from the west










from the east














for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellefonte_Nuclear_Generating_Station

www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/bellefonte.html

blog.al.com/breaking/2010/05/tva_recommending_conventional.html

Scenic North Alabama: Wheeler Dam

What a nice day. We decide to head west on US Hwy 72 and see where we end up. Eventually, we find ourselves at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Wheeler Dam near Rogersville, Alabama. Here are some photos. Click on them for enlargements.


TVA was created in 1933 to improve navigation, control flooding, provide electricity through the generation of hydroelectric power, and improve economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region that was one of the most economically depressed in the country. A total of 50 dams have been built along the Tennessee River and its tributaries from Knoxville to the Ohio River. Construction on Wheeler Dam began in 1933 and it was completed in 1936. The dam impounds the Wheeler Lake of 67,070 acres and its tailwaters feed into Wilson Lake. The Wheeler Reservoir above the dam stretches 74 miles east to Guntersville Dam. Fifteen miles downstream from Wheeler Dam is Wilson Dam at Florence and Muscle Shoals. Wheeler Dam is named for Civil War general Joseph "Joe" Wheeler, who later became a U.S. Congressman.



South end of the dam from the overlook parking lot





Sign at south end of dam





About to drive across the dam





Entrance to one of the locks at the north end of the dam






Another view of the locks looking south




Sign showing the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dam system on the Tennessee River (Wheeler Dam is in the lower left portion). Unfortunately, the sign has been embellished with graffiti.