POWERGRAMS

35 positioned, inside what is called the "scroll case," is surreal for visitors. At the boom of the dam, they take two or three steps before walking through a small door into the turbine cavity. Just beyond the scroll case are three massive doors holding back water at the boom of the lake. To make the turbine operational, a large spigot fills the room with water, equalizing the pressure from the lake behind the doors. They are then opened without pressure from the lake outside. Adjustable panels called wicket gates surround the outside of the turbine, and are opened to allow water to flow through the turbine. Jordan is one of seven Alabama Power dams on the Coosa River and one of four categorized as "Lower Coosa" dams, the others being Bouldin, Mitchell and Lay. Jordan has had an impact far beyond its own existence in the history of Alabama and the South. It was originally planned to be one of the first Alabama Power dams. Former board member Frank Washburn needed the electricity from the dam to energize a massive factory he wanted to build in nearby Wetumpka to make nitrates, an essential component of fertilizer and ammunition. But President William H. Ta, a Republican, vetoed a bill in Congress in 1912 that had approved building the dam. Many historians believe Ta killed the bill because of animosity toward Democrat-controlled Alabama. Losing out was Wetumpka, which may have grown into a major city with the nitrate plant. Washburn, meanwhile, took his nitrate idea to Muscle Shoals and was instrumental in geing the federal government to take the Wilson Dam site from Alabama Power. Jordan Dam opened in 1928 and was named aer Elmira Sophia Jordan, mother of early Alabama Power board members S.Z. and Reuben Mitchell. Turbines came up from the depths of Jordan Dam for the first time in 67 years. Above, the old headcover, which keeps the dam wicket gates in place.

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