Whoa

Calvert City, Kentucky

October 12, 2022

I think I was lulled into compliance by my drive through corn and soybean fields yesterday. I wasn't prepared for what I learned this morning.

Coming from the east on US 62, I encountered the Barkley dam, lock and powerhouse. The dam is on the Cumberland River and creates what I believe is called Lake Barkley.

Approximately a mile away I came across another dam, lock and powerhouse -- this one called the Kentucky Dam which is on the Tennessee River and creates Kentucky Lake.

That's the first time I have come across two large dams so close to each other. The Kentucky Dam is run by TVA; the Barkley Dam is run by the Army Corps of Engineers.

That would have been enough for my brain to handle. But there's more!

Past the respective dams, the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers flow into the Ohio River (at different locations). Within miles of that, at Cairo, Illinois, the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River coming down from St. Louis (see below).

Wow! I feel like I just learned the triple threat position in basketball! I had no idea there was so much going on with rivers in this area of the country. I headed down here because I know of Paducah from my days of work on the nuclear fuel cycle.