Abandoned Hydroelectric plant in Tennessee


Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee
Date added: July 03, 2023 Categories: Tennessee Power Plant Hydroelectric Power
Powerhouse, spillway section of dam, fishladder, and two sluice gates. Looking east (1989)

The Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station is an example of the kind of smaller-scale, private-sector venture of a capitalist hydroelectric engineering projects typical at the time of its construction on the smaller rivers in Tennessee.

The design of the Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station is similar with two other extant sites on the Duck River, all designed and built in the 1920s by the same two Nashville industrial engineering and construction firms, for the same public utilities firm. The site operated for twenty-four years from 1924 to 1948 and was the sole source of electricity for Shelbyville. Only minor changes in generating machinery were made.

Site Description

The Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station is located near the junction of the Duck River and State Highway 231 in Shelbyville (population 13,700), seat of Bedford County, Tennessee. The inactive, minimally maintained site features a municipal park on the Highway 231 side of the dam, with recreational facilities and opportunities for fishing at the base of the dam.

The Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station was designed for the Southern Cities Power Corporation the Nashville engineering firm of Freeland, Roberts and Co., and built by the well-known Nashville construction firm, Foster & Creighton, for the Southern Cities Corporation, a privately owned public utility company based in Chattanooga. The powerhouse was built upon the foundation of the older generating station on the same spot. Located about seventy-five feet from the Shelbyville bank (east) of the Duck River, this concrete structure was built in 1924. The foundations of the powerhouse are built of steel-reinforced concrete. The superstructure is a skeleton of reinforced concrete with 13-inch brick panels and a 2-inch brick parapet, including brick chimney. Unlike its sister in Columbia, the Shelbyville dam does not feature a "V" shaped trash boom, but does show a surge tank of appropriately sized dimensions. The power house is approximately thirty feet by forty-five feet and the roof is composed of a four-inch reinforced concrete slab and beam construction.

The concrete gravity dam is 430 feet long and is divided into three parts; the main dam, an east section, and a west section. The main dam is 210 feet long, of which 185 feet are the spillway section. The west section of the dam was constructed at a twenty-three-degree angle upstream and is similar to the main section in construction. The west section of the dam also contains two eight-foot wide sluice gates for emergency reservoir drainage, and a fish ladder. The east section is fifty-seven feet long, fourteen feet high, and twelve feet thick at the base. It was built at a thirty-degree angle upstream to the powerhouse. A walkway on the east section leads to the power house. The 1915 station utilized a 250-kilowatt generator which was driven by two vertical turbines. The extant 1924 vintage powerhouse was equipped was a 216 kW unit, and another 216 kW unit was added in 1927. It was in operation for twenty-four years until 1948.

The site's appearance has changed little since its construction in 1924. On the Shelbyville side of the dam the powerhouse is reached by a precarious climb down the bank of the Duck River (east side), then over the overgrown foundation of the earlier (1915) and smaller hydroelectric station foundation to the overflow section of the dam which supports an angled concrete walkway that leads to the powerhouse proper, which sits on the (east) bank of the Duck River. Its nine windows, while missing much of the original steel framing fabric, were most likely identical to those featured at the Columbia Hydroelectric Station. The windows were probably rectangularly shaped with six over six pane configuration. The dam and fish ladder are still extant, as are the water intakes, which are approximately half a mile upstream. All generating and transmission equipment and machinery was long ago removed and sold for scrap. However, as an indication of confidence in the sites physical integrity is the commercial interest expressed in the feasibility of refurbishing the Shelbyville hydroelectric site for the purposes of generating electricity.

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Eastern section of dam, looking west, showing remains of 1915 powerhouse site foundation and dam spillway with walkway leading to 1924 powerhouse (1989)
Eastern section of dam, looking west, showing remains of 1915 powerhouse site foundation and dam spillway with walkway leading to 1924 powerhouse (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Foundation of 1915 powerhouse with 1924 powerhouse and Duck River in distance. Looking west (1989)
Foundation of 1915 powerhouse with 1924 powerhouse and Duck River in distance. Looking west (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Concrete walkway leading to powerhouse over spillway portion of eastern section of dam. Looking west (1989)
Concrete walkway leading to powerhouse over spillway portion of eastern section of dam. Looking west (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Powerhouse showing concrete foundation and brick superstructure. Looking west (1989)
Powerhouse showing concrete foundation and brick superstructure. Looking west (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Showing relationship between concrete foundation of 1915 powerhouse (foreground) overflow section of dam, walkway, and powerhouse. Looking west (1989)
Showing relationship between concrete foundation of 1915 powerhouse (foreground) overflow section of dam, walkway, and powerhouse. Looking west (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Walkway, dam, and powerhouse, looking downstream, or north (1989)
Walkway, dam, and powerhouse, looking downstream, or north (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Upstream side of powerhouse, showing windows, surge suppression pipe, and forebays. Looking north (1989)
Upstream side of powerhouse, showing windows, surge suppression pipe, and forebays. Looking north (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Powerhouse, spillway section of dam, fishladder, and two sluice gates. Looking east (1989)
Powerhouse, spillway section of dam, fishladder, and two sluice gates. Looking east (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Close up of western foot of dam, two sluice gates, and fish ladder. (Note figure on dam footing.) Looking south (1989)
Close up of western foot of dam, two sluice gates, and fish ladder. (Note figure on dam footing.) Looking south (1989)

Shelbyville Hydroelectric Station, Shelbyville Tennessee Showing relationship of dam and powerhouse; note city of Shelbyville in background. Looking east (1989)
Showing relationship of dam and powerhouse; note city of Shelbyville in background. Looking east (1989)