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Alabama Power Company's Weiss Dam
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Weiss Dam was constructed on the Coosa River near Leesburg, AL, and
began service June 5, 1961. This is one of the more unusual dams we have
bagged: the concrete gated spillway is about 4 miles from the power
house. That's not so unusual for a diversion dam, but Weiss is not your
usual diversion dam. The dam consists of a specified 392 feet of
concrete gravity structure, and 30,406 feet of earthfill dikes. That's
right, the dam is almost 6 miles long! Maximum height was given as 126
feet. The river is diverted through a one mile canal to the forebay.
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The backside of the spillway is visible from US411 as it crosses the
lake, and if you turn onto Cherokee County Road 7 from US411, you will
cross the spillway. There is a parking area on the left just across the
spillway, where we got this shot. Through the tree right-center you can
see some of the earthen dike that makes up most of this dam.
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Continue down County Road 7 to County Road 20, hang a right, and a
couple of miles later you will reach the powerhouse. Here more of the
dike is visible. The sign says tours are available "by
appointment"; we doubt that anymore, but we might give it a shot
next time we are in the area. This is not too far from Desoto State
Park, one of our favorites.
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The Power House has three turbine/generator assemblies, each rated at
29.25 Megawatts for a total capacity of 87.75 Megawatts. The transformers
are on the structure above the draft tubes: I just realized I didn't get
a shot of the switchyard! Since this is a Southern Company plant, the
transformers are probably 115 KV.
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A look down the tailrace channel, back to the original riverbed.
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The Southwest end of the dam, about a couple of miles from the power
house. There were actually some structures on the lake side of this
dike, so this is obviouisly meant for the worst case flood! Thus far we
haven't found any flood control stats for this dam.
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As you come back to US411 on County Road 7, you can see the dike as it
continues to the northeast on the other side of US411.
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