TVA: The Great Experiment

TVA: The Great Experiment

J.M. Syken

Course Outline

In this course, we will examine the background and history of the Tennessee Valley Authority. This comprehensive review will include an in-depth review of the Tennessee River Valley from its early settlement through to the creation of “The Valley of the Dams.” Problems of the valley including soil erosion, deforestation, disease, chronic unemployment/poverty, lack of electricity etc. will be discussed as it pertains to the need for the creation of the TVA as a means by which many of these problems could/would be successfully resolved. As well, the political and economic background for the creation of TVA, starting with the completion of the Muscle Shoals Dam and the ensuing debate over public vs. private power will be reviewed in-depth and detail.

The use of “multi-purpose” dams to achieve the two primary goals of the TVA – flood control in the Tennessee River Valley and improvement of the navigation of the Tennessee River (by creating a nine-foot deep navigable channel via dredging and locks in main run-of-river dams from the mouth of the river at Paducah, KY to its headwaters above Knoxville, TN) by the use of both storage and run-of-river dams will be our main focus. The creation of hydroelectric dams for the purpose of rural and/or industry electrification will also be of great interest/importance. As well, the peripheral activities of the TVA (i.e. malaria control, housing, technological innovation/experimentation etc.) as well as the supplemental creation of both coal and nuclear powered generating plants will be of significant interest.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Understand/appreciate the problems faced by the nation during the “Dust Bowl” of the early 1930s and how the federal government sought to provide relief for deforestation, soil erosion etc. through big-budget programs and the creation of new agencies to deal with the situation;
Understand/appreciate the Tennessee River Valley; its power potential (i.e. “fall”), navigability, flooding characteristics, geography, mineral wealth, population, importance during the Civil War, culture, farming practices etc.;
Understand/appreciate the two prime objectives (a/k/a “Twin Foundations”) of the TVA: flood control and improvement of navigation on the river and how these two goals were achieved;
Understand/appreciate the secondary importance of hydroelectric power generation for rural/industrial electrification and the move to prominence of power generation during and after WWII;
Understand/appreciate the use of the Muscle Shoals Dam and nitrate plants for the production of nitrates for fertilizer (in peacetime) and explosives (in wartime), including the mining of native phosphate ore and technological experimen-tation/improvement in the processes involved;
Understand/appreciate the difficulties encountered when the federal government went into the power generating business and the resistance it met by the “Power Trust” of privately held utility companies and the goal of the TVA to determine a “Yardstick” by which equitable electricity rates could/would be determined;
Understand/appreciate the native culture of the Tennessee Valley and the resistance to change, by some, and the welcoming of change, by others encountered and overcome;
Understand/appreciate the chronic problem of flooding in the Tennessee River Valley (particularly in Chattanooga) and the history of floods from 1847 onward;
Understand/appreciate the March 1913 flooding of Ohio’s Miami River and the series of dams designed by Dr. Arthur E. Morgan (future TVA Director/Chairman) and constructed to resolve the problem successfully;
Understand/appreciate the detrimental practices of Tennessee Valley farmers causing soil erosion, deforestation etc. and how by the use of contour farming, cover crops, fertilizer etc. the land was restored to productivity;
Understand/appreciate the application of “multi-purpose” dams which could control flooding, improve navigation and/or produce electrical power;
Understand/appreciate the legal and administrative organization of the TVA as a public corporation and the conflict between the initial three “Directors” leading to the ouster of Dr. A.E. Morgan by FDR in 1938;
Understand/appreciate the design/construction of the TVA’s initial storage (on tributaries) and/or run-of-river (on the main river) dams, expediting of dam construction during WWII to provide power for defense plants and the “Clinton Engineer Works” at Oak Ridge, TN (for the “Manhattan Project”) and subsequent need for both coal and nuclear powered steam plants to meet the needs of the TVA region;
Understand/appreciate the creation of electrical co-operatives for the distribution of TVA generated electrical power and the assumption of ownership (through buyouts) by the TVA of public utilities and their power distribution networks for integration into their system;
Understand/appreciate the many activities of the TVA “on the periphery” of their main functions including: cultural/recreational facilities/activities, town planning, temporary and permanent housing, malaria control, expert consulting, experimentation, resettlement/re-internment, vocational training etc.;
Understand/appreciate the roles of New Deal “alphabet agencies” such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Soil Conservation Corps (SCC), Resettlement Administration (RA), Works Progress Administration (WPA) and even the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) in TVA activities in the pre-WWII era;
Understand/appreciate the importance of the TVA in achieving the allied victory of WWII; and
Understand/appreciate the legacy of the TVA to dam construction, water/river resource management, hydroelectric technology, flood control, reservoir creation/management etc.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for architects, engineers and other design/construction professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into the development of the largest Public corporation in the United States – the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Course Introduction

The course includes an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and the viewing of videos.

Course Content

In this course, you are required to view/study the following slideshow and the materials contained in the web pages:

TVA: The Great Experiment (printable handout in PDF, 21 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

TVA: The Great Experiment (non-printable slideshow for screen-viewing only, 100 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

Archival/Documentary Film:

TITLE: The Valley of the Tennessee (1944)
LINK: https://archive.org/details/gov.fdr.353.3.3
DURATION: 28:59
TITLE: The TVA at Work (1935)
LINK: https://archive.org/details/TheTVAAtWork1935
DURATION: 13:28
TITLE: Tennessee Valley
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv0dPCIl7io&t=183s
DURATION: 47:23
TITLE: This is TVA
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgFxtmiHQ2c
DURATION: 28:29
TITLE: Power and the Land (1940)
LINK: http://archive.org/details/gov.fdr.352.2a.3
DURATION: 38:08
TITLE: History Brief: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaI7GsxdmvM
DURATION: 05:35

Note A: Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

Course Summary

The Tennessee River Valley seemed to be a land that time forgot. By the time FDR was sworn-in for his first term as POTUS, water was still being pumped by hand from a well and kerosene lanterns lit the valley night. To the private utility companies, the “saturation point” had already been reached when their transmission lines reached cities like Knoxville and Chattanooga. To run lines to the remote farms of the valley was just not worth the bother since even if they could afford the high rates charged, they would only use the electricity for lighting. This assumption was proved wrong when the TVA and its network of hydroelectric dams and co-operatives brought cheap, plentiful and reliable electricity to an 80K square-mile area. So too, the dams would serve to hold back floodwaters and create commerce on the Tennessee River; from Knoxville, TN to Paducah, KY, where the Tennessee met the Ohio River. Primary goals achieved, the role of power production – a secondary goal initially, would take center stage during WWII and in the post-war years. Some saw the TVA as a dangerous experiment in socialism, others as an absolute necessity to battle a Depression and bring a stagnant, poverty-ridden and geographically desolated region back into the fold of modern America. If the latter is used as the “Test of Progress,” the great experiment of the TVA has been a resounding success.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Dam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norris_Dam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6TqakA3t2w
(Norris Dam Construction – TVA – 1935 Chevrolet Newsreel 03:04)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUkliKCok18
(Film: Built for the People - 1:25:39)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6DRBURPlxI
(Film: The Untold Stories of the Great Depression - 1:21:38)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.