The shoreline of Barkley is 1,004 miles long and the lake itself is 134 miles long (makes for some great bass fishing my friend). The water temperature average is 45 to 65 during winter months and 70 to 80 during the summer months. On May 4th, 2011 Lake Barkley reached its crest and set the new record level for Lake Barkley at 372.5’. The previous record level for Lake Barkley was 370.04’, which was set May 11, 1984.
Barkley Dam was created on the Cumberland River, only a couple of miles from Kentucky Dam. The dam was created for several purposes, but most importantly, flood control and to generate hydroelectric power. Eddyville and Kuttawa a couple of small towns, located on the Cumberland River, were both flooded by the river often. The US Army Corps of Engineers decided that the small locks and dams up and down the Cumberland weren't enough for flood control, so the construction of Barkley Dam began in 1959 and completed five years later.The project was first identified as the Lower Cumberland Project, but was later referred to as Barkley Lock and Dam and Lake Barkley in honor of the late Alben W. Barkley, the 35th vice president of the United States and late senator and a Paducah, Kentucky native. Barkley Dam is 10,180ft long and 157ft high and each of its four generators is capable of producing 32,500 kilowatt hours. The Barkley lock was opened to navigation in July of 1964 and has clear chamber dimensions of 800’ x 110’ x 57’. The gravity fill and empty system, exchanges 37,500,000 gallons of water per lock.
Two major communities were relocated when Lake Barkley was built in the 1960s. Kuttawa and Eddyville, with a combined population of 3500, were about to be flooded permanently. Eddyville in particular was completely relocated to its present location on US 62/641. A striking characteristic of Eddyville today is that none of the buildings there were built prior to the 1960s.
Before that time, the present location of Eddyville was just a big field. Lake Barkley is somewhat young, only about 50 years old, unlike Kentucky Lake's age of over 70 years. One of the neat things about Lake Barkley is that you can still see old foundations, sidewalks, and streets of Old Eddyville during Barkley's winter pool (when the lake is five feet lower).
Just like Kentucky Lake, the creation of Lake Barkley forced the re-routing of several roads including US 62, US 68, Kentucky 80, Kentucky 93, and several others. And just like with Kentucky Lake, the Illinois Central Railroad was relocated, which you can still see under water from high above.
Peace to you and yours until we meet again.
www.lakehousesupplies.com
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