What Democracy Can Do

Workers Toiled Day and Night to Complete Douglas Dam

On March 1, 1943 – the day Douglas Dam was dedicated to winning World War II – Patrick Marshall sat among 18 brown-helmeted workers on a flag-draped speaker’s platform. As the senior member of a group that hadn’t missed a single day of work since the project began, Marshall was given the honor of flipping the switch that set the first generator humming on a trial run.

“I realized that any day I was absent was a day given to the enemy,” the steamfitter explained afterwards. “We are all united in the hope that this power will speed utter defeat to our enemies.”

Thousands of construction workers listened as dignitaries praised their remarkable achievement. With crews working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Douglas Dam was finished in just 12 months and 17 days – still a world record for projects of comparable size.

Needs Must

In a 1936 report to Congress, TVA had pointed out that a dam on the French Broad River should be constructed to provide for complete and effective navigation and flood control on the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers “when justified.” But construction of Douglas Dam was deferred because it would flood some of the best agricultural land in the area and impact a sizeable canning industry.

World War II provided the needed justification. The nation required vast amounts of electricity to fuel the war effort – particularly to produce the aluminum needed for aircraft construction – and it needed it fast.

Opponents of Douglas Dam, led by Tennessee Sen. Kenneth McKellar, argued that the necessary power could be found elsewhere. Proponents, led by TVA Chairman David Lilienthal, contended that Douglas Dam was the only source in the country that could possibly produce power in time to avert a threatened aluminum shortage in 1943.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, effectively ended the argument. Congress approved the Douglas Dam bill, and President Franklin Roosevelt signed it into law Jan. 30, 1942.

That afternoon, TVA received a teletype from its Washington representative that said, “DOUGLAS DAM BILL JUST SIGNED. START DIGGING.” 

Within four days, an estimated 1,800 employees were working on the project. By June 30, 1942, more than 6,000 employees were on the payroll. A little more than a year later, despite a four-week delay due to flooding, Douglas Dam was finished.

A Dam with a Plan

Several fortunate circumstances contributed to the rapid construction of Douglas Dam. TVA completed nearby Cherokee Dam just weeks earlier, allowing engineers to immediately reuse construction drawings, heavy equipment and experienced personnel for the Douglas project. And, a 30 megawatt generating unit originally ordered for Cherokee and scheduled for delivery in March 1942 was redirected to Douglas. This allowed power generation to begin a full year earlier than otherwise expected.

But for President Franklin Roosevelt, it was “the free men and free institutions who … worked together” that made the engineering and construction feat possible. In a letter read at the dedication ceremony, he credited: “the Congress of the United States which determined that the structure should be built; the engineers and workmen who … labored day and night through storm and heat and flood to carry out that mandate; the farmers who, in a few short months, … moved from their land and … surrendered cherished homes to let this river mobilize for war.”

“Let our enemies take note,” Roosevelt declared. “Douglas Dam shows what a democracy can do.”