The Water Order

As Rains Swell Lower Tennessee River, Dam Crew Springs into Action 

Alan Smith slides his finger down a list of the historic floods that have inundated this area just north of where Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama meet.

Precisely 395.3 feet in 2019.

And 396.11 feet in 1973.

The all-time record: 401.2 feet, set in 1897, before Tennessee Valley Authority built Pickwick Landing Dam at this location.

To Smith’s relief, today’s high water won’t break those records.

But with several days’ worth of heavy winter rains pouring into the lower Tennessee River, forecasters are expecting a crest over 375 feet, which is considered moderate flood stage.

In the control room of the dam, Smith and fellow lead hydro technician Jeremy Holt are on high alert.

Smith calls into his handheld radio.

There’s a momentary crackle and his voice booms throughout the plant.

He doesn’t need to say much, just the first names of crew members.

Then: “Water order.”

The crew assembles in the control room within minutes, huddling with Smith over a printout.

The water order.

From left, hydro crew members Brian Bain, Kevin Broadfoot, plant manager Jamey Haddock, Brady Gregory and Taylor Poag review the water order with lead hydro technician Alan Smith.

1 Million Gallons Per Second

For this team – and crews like it across TVA’s hydro fleet – a water order amounts to marching orders. It contains instructions from TVA’s central River Forecast Center in Knoxville on adjustments they must make at their dam right away.

A water order is how, day in and day out, small crews like this one work together to manage flood risk for the entire system.

And today’s water order is a big one. 

Pickwick Landing is already spilling water, but today’s water order calls for an increase from about 13,000 cubic feet per second – approximately 100,000 gallons per second – to a staggering 160,000 cubic feet per second. That’s well over a million gallons of water per second.

Plant manager Jamey Haddock – who was on the front lines in the middle of the night during the epic flood of 2019 – knows his team is up to the task.

“We’re proud that we’re able to go out there and manage those flood levels to a point where everybody downstream can stay safe,” Haddock said. “That’s what TVA was built for. That makes us proud."

For today, releasing the torrent is the task Brady Gregory, Brian Bain, Kevin Broadfoot and Taylor Poag must now execute.

Bain signals the crane operator to detach the lift beam from a spillway gate that’s been raised.

‘Not Playing with Legos’

After a safety briefing, the crew heads out across the top of the dam, which spans more than a mile across the river. Its six generating units can produce more than 240 megawatts of electricity.

Gregory climbs a narrow ladder high over the tailwaters to the cab of the gantry crane. As he pushes levers to maneuver the massive steel lift beam that hoists the floodgate, he communicates with hand signals so the operators below can see exactly what he’s doing.

Bain and Poag position themselves on opposite sides of the spillway, motioning to Gregory with hand signals of their own and helping to guide each 30-ton gate smoothly into position.

Broadfoot stands in the center of the action, making sure the crane is positioned perfectly as it glides along its track from one spillway to the next.

As the crew works, he checks off steps on the water order.

The crane. The gates. The hand signals. This is the same method – and the same equipment – that’s been used to operate the dam since its initial construction was completed in 1938.

The team’s movements seem coordinated and effortless, but as skillful and practiced as they are, they keep a constant watch for one another’s safety.

“We’re not playing with Legos out here,” Broadfoot said.

Gregory operates the gantry crane, in use at Pickwick Landing since the 1930s.

Opening the Spillways

The crew members methodically work their way across the entire length of the dam, opening 15 of 22 spillways, as called for by the water order.

With each gate they raise, spilling a roiling gush, they help carefully manage the flow of water across the whole Tennessee River system.

Carrying out this water order takes about a third of their 10-hour workday.

At the far end of the dam, the four men pile into a golf cart to ride back to the powerhouse.

They’ve done their part today, as TVA hydro crews have for more than 90 years.

And they know that tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after – or possibly all three – the cycle will continue. 

With another water order.

Photo Gallery

As the crew lifts one of the floodgates, the Tennessee River gushes through the spillway.

The gantry crane moves along a track, raising one flood gate after the next.

Haddock is proud of Pickwick’s six generating units, which can produce more than 240 megawatts of electricity.

Smith, left, and fellow lead hydro technician Jeremy Holt monitor dam operations from the control room.

A calculator is handy for translating the flow of water from cubic feet per second to gallons per second.

Broadfoot signals how far to advance the crane on its track.

Bain operates the dogging device that allows a floodgate to hang up out of the water.

The gantry crane’s controls.

Generations of Pickwick Landing Dam hydro technicians have used hand signals like these.

PHOTO AT TOP OF PAGE: As his crew begins carrying out a water order, Haddock keeps tabs on the next few days’ plans for managing high waters.