Dale Hollow Dam was constructed and is operated by the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, as one of a series of dams in the Cumberland River Basin for flood control, power, navigation, and water conservation. The dam is 185 feet high and 1,717 feet long, with a spillway crest at elevation 651 and the top of the dam at elevation 678. It has 6 crest gates, each 60 feet wide and 12 feet high. At maximum pool, the reservoir has a capacity of 1,706,000 acre-feet, covers 30,990 acres, and has 620 miles of shoreline. The project used 574,000 cubic yards of concrete, and the dam was completed in 1943.