Ocoee Whitewater Center facts for kids
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| About | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Ducktown, Tennessee, United States |
| Managing agent | U S Forest Service |
| Designer | McLaughlin Whitewater Design Group |
| Main shape | Riverbed |
| Water source | Ocoee River Dam release |
| Surf wave | Yes |
| Canoe lift | No |
| Facilities | Yes |
| Opening date | 1996 |
| Stats | |
| Length | 1,640 feet (500 m) |
| Drop | 37 feet (11 m) |
| Slope | 2.2% (120 ft/mile) |
| Flowrate | 1,400 cu ft/s (40 m3/s) to 1,600 cu ft/s (45 m3/s) |
| Ocoee Whitewater Center | |
The Ocoee Whitewater Center is a special place near Ducktown, Tennessee, in the United States. It was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. This center was where the exciting sport of canoe slalom took place.
What makes it unique is that it's the only Olympic canoe slalom course ever built directly in a natural river. A part of the Upper Ocoee River, about 1,640 feet (500 meters) long, was made narrower to create the fast-moving water and tricky spots needed for the competition.
Today, the river at the center only has water on summer weekends, for about 34 days each year. This is when many guided rafts and private boats use the course. When the water is flowing, over 24 companies bring more than 750 people down the river every day!
Since the river is dry for most of the year, the Ocoee Whitewater Center is also a popular spot for other activities. It's managed by the U.S. Forest Service. People come here for hiking, mountain biking, and even special events like conferences and weddings. Around 300,000 visitors enjoy the center each year.
Contents
Building the Olympic Whitewater Course
Canoe slalom is a newer sport in the Olympics. This is because most cities that host the Olympics are not near natural whitewater rivers. The first two Olympic canoe slalom courses were man-made canals. They were built around dams in nearby mountains.
The Ocoee course for the 1996 Atlanta Games was different. It was made by changing the natural riverbed of the Upper Ocoee River. It was the only Olympic course built directly in a river. This meant it had the most water, the biggest drops, and the steepest slopes. Newer Olympic courses are often closer to cities. They use pumps to move water through smaller concrete channels. This helps save energy.
Engineers built walls along the Ocoee River's banks. These walls were covered with natural rocks. They made the river narrower, from 200 feet (61 meters) down to 70 feet (21 meters). Even at this smaller size, it was still twice as wide as most man-made whitewater channels.
To make the water flow just right, the river needed a lot of water. It needed about 1,400 cubic feet per second (40 cubic meters per second). This is two or three times more water than most artificial whitewater channels use.
Before building, they tested their ideas using a small model. It was a 1-to-10 scale model of the river. They built it outdoors near Ocoee Dam #1. This helped them see how the changes would work with real water.
Releasing water into the river for the course uses a lot of energy. This is because the water normally goes through tunnels to make electricity. When water is released into the river, it bypasses the power station. This means less electricity is made. For the Olympics, releasing water meant losing 31 megawatts of electricity. Today, recreational releases use even more water. This means a loss of 35 megawatts, which costs about $2100 every hour.
The money from rafting helps pay for some of this lost electricity. But athletes need cheaper places to practice. So, in 2006, the U.S. National Whitewater Center was built in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has an Olympic-standard course that uses pumps to move water.
The building used for media and VIPs during the Olympics is still there. It now has a visitors center and a gift shop.
The Olympic Race Course
For the final canoe slalom race in the 1996 Olympics, there were 25 gates. Six gates were red, meaning racers had to go upstream through them. Nineteen gates were green, meaning they went downstream. The course was 500 meters long. This was twice as long as the course used in the 2012 London Olympics.
At the Ocoee, racers had to paddle fast between gates at the top. Then, they had to steer carefully through gates that were closer together. These tighter gates were around a rapid called Humongous at the bottom.
The course has several famous rapids:
- Best Ledge is just before Olympic gate #1.
- Smiley’s is where a big rock in the middle of the river splits the water.
- Slam Dunk is a ledge between gates #8 and #9.
- The Conveyor Belt is a series of waves from gates #10 to #17.
- Callihan Ledge is at gate #18.
- Humongous is the last big challenge, from gates #21 to #24.
Humongous is the steepest and narrowest rapid. It has a wave train on the left side of a large rock. On the right side, there are two big drops called Godzilla and Humongous Hole. Olympic gate #23 was placed on the right bank. It was in a small calm spot between the two drops.
To avoid getting stuck, racers had to use the Godzilla wave. They would stop their speed when entering the calm spot. Then, they would use the wave again to surf across the current. This helped them reach the rock and upstream gate #24.
Commercial rafts often go down the right side at Humongous. It's like a two-drop roller coaster ride! Sometimes, rafts can flip over here, sending people into the water.
The Ocoee Whitewater Center was supposed to host the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2001. However, these championships were cancelled after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Ocoee Whitewater Rafting Adventures
Whitewater rafting on the Middle Ocoee River became popular in 1976. This part of the river is downstream from the Whitewater Center. It happened when a wooden channel, called a flume, was shut down for repairs. This flume usually carried water away from Dam #2 to make electricity.
For many years, from 1913 to 1976, the 4.5-mile (7.2 km) section of the river below the flume was usually dry. This was especially true in the summer. But in 1976, water suddenly appeared in the Middle Ocoee River. This attracted private canoers, kayakers, and rafting companies.
By 1983, when the flume was fixed, these groups had enough influence. They made a deal with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). This deal allowed regular water releases for recreation during the summer. Thirteen years later, when the 1996 Olympics came, water releases were also scheduled for the Upper Ocoee River.
Today, there's an agreement for water releases. The Upper Ocoee, which flows past the Whitewater Center, has water for 34 days a year. This happens on summer weekends. The Middle Ocoee, below Dam #2, has water for 106 days a year. It has 26 exciting rapids. On days when the Upper Ocoee also has water, the Middle Ocoee has water into the evening.
Most rafting happens on the Middle Ocoee. It has a slope of about 50 feet per mile (9.5 meters per kilometer). Rafting down the Upper Ocoee, through the steeper Olympic course, is offered as a more challenging trip.
Whenever the Ocoee River has water, private boaters can use the river for free.
Hiking, Biking, and Camping Fun
The Tanasi Trail System is a great place for mountain biking. It offers 30 miles (48 km) of trails. These trails are all around the Whitewater Center.
If you like camping, the Thunder Rock Campground is nearby. It's about one mile (1.6 km) west of the Center. The Ocoee Scenic Byway (U.S. 64) is the road that leads to the center. It's usually open all year. The westbound lanes of this road were first built as a parking area for the Olympics. This helped it become a divided highway to handle all the summer traffic.
Images for kids
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Riverbed before construction, with lines showing proposed new shorelines.
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Finish line for 1996 Olympics. A camera is mounted on the boulder in Humongous Rapid.
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Fire tower at the museum formerly located on Oswald Dome. This tower was moved to its current location in 2004.
Official Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ocoee/
