Grand Coulee Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam on Washington State's Columbia River and is part of the Columbia Basin region of North-central Washington. It's the largest electric power producing facility , the largest concrete structure and the fourth largest producer of hydroelectricity in the world.
The reservoir made by the dam is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, named after the United States President who had the Grand Coulee dam built as a depression era job creating project. The Grand Coulee Dam is almost a mile long (5223 ft.), with a spillway of 1,650 feet wide and is 550 feet tall with its hydraulic height at 380 feet. Grand Coulee dam has enough concrete to build a four-foot wide, four-inch deep sidewalk twice around the equator.
The Grand Coulee Dam site was excavated on July 16, 1933 and completed in January 1942, shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 07). Grand Coulee dam was designed by John L. Savage with Frank A. Banks as chief construction engineer and by the end of its construction, 77 men lost would have given their lives.
Grand Coulee dam's primary goal was for irrigation purposes. The rich volcanic soil of the Columbia Basin made it perfect for growing crops of all types and variety and Grand Coulee dam was to facilitate the birth of Washington States agricultural heartland and was instrumental in the industrial development of the Pacific Northwest.
Hydroelectric power played a vital role as part of the war effort and as such the need for electricity would increase, Grand Coulee dam's primary goal had change. Aluminum smelting was also vital to the war effort, and to airplane construction in particular.
Grand Coulee dam has a visitor center that contains many historical photos, geological samples, turbine and dam models, and a well used theater. Since May'89, on summer evenings a laser is projected onto the dam's wall. The show includes full-size images of battleships and the Statue of Liberty, as well as some environmental comments.&nbps;&nbps;Tours of the new Third Powerhouse are available to the public but have been scaled back for security reasons. Visitors are able to ride a glass elevator, on top of the forebay penstocks, 400 feet down to view the generators.
Follow me on Twitter at: BasinExplorer
and on my blog at: Columbia Basin Explorer
I'm just a free-spirit traveling the Columbia Basin, WA in search on life.
Columbia Basin Explorer
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- Recreation Resources and Tourism in Washington State
- Avoid the Airport in the Pacific Northwest - Amtrak Cascades Review
- Pacific Northwest Travel - Camano Island, WA
- Pacific Northwest Travel Advice - Camano Island, Washington
- Washington State University - Excellence in Education
- Seattle: The Pearl of the Pacific Northwest
- Consider a Regional Center in the Pacific Northwest When Applying For an Investor Visa
- RV Campgrounds Washington State
Free Online Learning Games For Preschoolers
By: K James | 04/01/2010Online learning games are fun for the classroom as well as a great way for parents to spend quality time with their child.
COG-132: IBM Cognos 8 BI Metadata Model Developer
By: xanndy | 04/01/2010Killtest offers free COG-132 exam questions, latest COG-132 Q&A the same as COG-132 real exam.
Examsoon 642-072 certification exam
By: aminalee | 04/01/2010Exam Number: 642-072 Associated Certifications: Unity Design Specialist Duration: 75 minutes (65-75 questions) Available Languages: English and Japanese Click Here to Register: Pearson VUE
The Growth Of Distance Learning Online Graduate Schools
By: Clifford S. Magno | 04/01/2010A graduate degree in your career field can help get you more money, more promotions and certainly looks impressive on your resume if you apply to another job. People with graduate degrees tend to land the higher paying jobs than even people with a mere undergraduate degree. But who has time to juggle going to school when you have a home and job? This is one reason why distance learning online graduate schools have become more popular in the last decade.
9L0-509 pdf
By: jessica | 04/01/2010The study material of Apple 9L0-509 Certinside is given in the easy format of questions and answers which will be very easy for all novices who wish to obtain the certification. Certinside offers Passing 100% Guarantee with Certinside 9L0-509 Q&A. The practice tests are given in Apple 9L0-509 pdf format and are categorized according to the various contents of the certification exam.
mb5-845 questions and answers
By: jessica | 04/01/2010IBM mb5-845 exam material has already proved its uniqueness and accuracy through thousands of Certinside users who have passed their mb5-845 exam quite easily using Certinside mb5-845 exam material.
OG0-9AB exam test
By: jessica | 04/01/2010Certinside is the provider of OG0-9AB exam, and it is the only one in t he world! You can not buy the product in anywhere else! Now I will tell you some Symantec st0-052 exam inforamtion!
642-873 training tools
By: jessica | 04/01/2010The 642-873 training programme is bound to valid, fair and highly skilled exams to prepare. Today the 642-873 certification programme set the standards for networking skills and develops with the IT industry.
Pioneering the Columbia Basin of Grant County, Washington
By: Basinexplorer | 28/05/2009 | HistoryThe first white settlers began to arrive in the mid- to late-1800s, primarily with the goal of raising livestock. One government official described the area in 1879 as, "…a desolation where even the most hopeful can find nothing in its future prospects to cheer..."
The flowers of the Columbia Basin
By: Basinexplorer | 28/05/2009 | ScienceThey are many species of flora found the the great Columbia Basin of central Washington state. These delicate wonders give life and dimension to a dry and barren landscape...