A beautiful sunrise captivated onlookers Jan. 5, 2022 at Chickamauga Lock and Dam, which is located at Tennessee River mile 471 only 6.9 miles above Chattanooga, Tennessee. Construction of the Chickamauga project started in Jan. 13, 1936 and was opened to navigation in 1939. Construction of Chickamauga Dam began in 1936 and was completed in 1940. The dam is 129 feet high and stretches 5,800 feet across the Tennessee River. Chickamauga Reservoir has 784 miles of shoreline and about 36,240 acres of water surface. It has a flood-storage capacity of 345,300 acre-feet. The 60-by-360-foot lock at Chickamauga lifts and lowers river craft about 50 feet between Nickajack and Chickamauga reservoirs. The dam is a Tennessee Valley Authority project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District operates and maintains the navigation lock.
