overreaching their authority, provoking more public opposition to the project. Unlike with TVA's early hydroelectric projects, the documentation of residents relocated was based on poorly executed efforts. TVA officials had never documented an exact number of how many families were to be affected, even after the property acquisition process had started in 1963. Initial estimates suggested the removal of 600 families, whereas the actual number was closer to 350 families. No documentation has been made down to the individuals all of the 350 families removed. Most of the families mandated to move complied, but three unwilling property owners were evicted by U.S. Marshals and watched their houses being demolished as they were evicted. In regards to the Tellico project's impact on the area's farming industry, 330 farms along the Little Tennessee River were lost following its inundation. In total, $25.5 million was spent by the TVA for land acquisition. Construction and engineering Construction on the Tellico Project began on March 7, 1967, with clearing work for the main dam structure. Work on the concrete structure of the dam was complete by October of the next year. Other portions of the dam constructed with earth fill were complete by August 1975, with the river flow from the original Little Tennessee soon forced via pump through the completed sluice gates of the main concrete dam. Around this time, work on coffer dams to assist with the main dam were complete. By the time of the forced closure of construction, work on the Tellico Project was nearly 90% complete, aside from final land clearing, recreational facility preparation, and a highway system that was nearly finished. In total, $63 million was endowed for the construction of the concrete dam and spillway, the main earth dam, coffer dams, roadway and railroad facilities, reservoir clearing, utility relocations, access roads, a canal with access to the Tennessee River, public use facilities, and general yard improvements. Most of this funding was used for the dam, over 65 miles of state, county, and local access roads, and three large-scale bridge replacement projects. The TVA also invested another $3.6 million for two major road projects scheduled for initial work starting after the completion and opening of the Tellico Dam structure. Officials with the Tennessee Department of Transportation expressed doubt about the completion of the Tellico Parkway (State Route 444), one of these major road projects. The TVA received nearly $665,000