Carters Dam facts for kids
- for the dam in Colorado, see Carter Lake Dam
Carters Dam is a very tall dam made of earth and rock. It is located in northwestern Georgia, in Murray County. This huge dam creates a large body of water called Carters Lake. It's an important structure that helps control floods and create electricity for people.
About Carters Dam
Carters Dam is an amazing 445 feet (136 m) tall. That's taller than a 40-story building! It sits on the Coosawattee River. The area of land that drains water into the river above the dam is about 376 square miles (970 km2).
It took 15 years to build this dam, and it was finished in 1977. The dam is made of rock and earth. It is actually the tallest earthen dam east of the Mississippi River. The very top of the dam is about 1,112.3 feet (339.0 m) above sea level. The top part of the dam is 40 feet (12 m) wide.
The lake created by the dam, Carters Lake, is the deepest man-made lake east of the Mississippi River. It is also the deepest lake in all of Georgia. The lake is more than 450 feet (140 m) deep in some spots. It has about 62 miles (100 km) of shoreline. What's special about this lake is that there are no private docks or buildings along its edges. This helps keep the area natural and beautiful.
The dam also has a long tunnel, about 2,407 feet (734 m) long. This tunnel is shaped like a horseshoe and is 23 feet (7.0 m) wide at the bottom. It helps manage the water flow.
How the Dam Makes Electricity
Below the main dam, there is a smaller lake called the Reregulation Reservoir. This lake is about 1,000-acre (400 ha) in size. Carters Dam has a special power plant that uses a method called pumped storage to make electricity.
Here's how pumped storage works:
- During times when people don't need much electricity (like late at night), water from the smaller Reregulation Reservoir is pumped back up into the main Carters Lake. This is like "storing" energy.
- Then, when many people need electricity (like during the day), the water from Carters Lake is released. It flows down through large machines called turbines.
- These turbines spin very fast as the water rushes past them. This spinning motion creates electricity!
The power station at Carters Dam has four large machines. Two of them are 140 megawatts (190,000 hp) turbines that generate power. The other two are 160 megawatts (210,000 hp) pump turbines that can both generate power and pump water back up. This system makes sure there's always enough power when people need it most.
