The idea of building Prakasam Barrage across River Krishna dates back to 1798. However, the construction planning was revised and redesigned by captain Buckle in 1839, and latter again in 1841 by Captain Best and Captain Lake. After the support of Major Cotton, the board of Directors of East India Company approved the plan of Prakasam Barrage on 5th January 1850.

The construction of Prakasam Barrage was started in 1852 and completed in 1855. Later the State Government builds a new regulator cum-round bridge that was named after Sri Tanguturi Prakasam, the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The barrage started to work officially since 1957 and it helps irrigating over 12 lakhs of acres. The Prakasam Barrage provides a panoramic view of the river.