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In the capable hands of Paul Pitzer, the fight for Grand Coulee Dam and the story of its construction is a vital, animated saga of people striving for dazzling goals and then working to build something spectacular. These visionaries accomplished their objective against the backdrop of the worst economic depression in the nation's history. The dam and the extensive irrigation network it supports stand today as a monument to their dreams and labors.
Washington's Grand Coulee is an ice-age channel that carried the Columbia River when ice dammed its main course. Grand Coulee was long recognized as an ideal place to store Columbia River water to irrigate the arid but fertile Columbia Basin. A dam was proposed as early as 1903, but opposition by Spokane private power interests and the cost of the dam delayed design and construction until the administration of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt, a public power advocate, used the Grand Coulee Dam project to help put the unemployed to work. The result was the world's largest man-made structure, and also the world's largest power plant, costing more than $163 million and the lives of at least 72 workers. The dam powered production of aluminum, atomic weapons, shipbuilding, and much more, contributing mightily to America's victory in World War II. Postwar developments provided irrigation for 700,000 acres of farmland.
The Mightiest of Them All: Memories of Grand Coulee Dam presents the experiences of L. Vaughn Downs from the time he started working on the dam when it was in the design stage, through the construction period and into many years of actual dam operation and maintenance. He provides glimpses into the personalities connected with the project and explains the many techniques and pieces of equipment that were developed or improved as the dam was built. Downs also devotes considerable attention to problems they encountered and the solutions developed in the hope that others will learn from these situations. This revised edition brings the story up to the current period with an examination of the upkeep and condition of the dam after 50 years, and its prospects for the future. Engineers, architects, and interested general readers will feel the thrill of this extraordinary dam, as the informative text and bounty of photographs illustrate various stages of construction and the dramatic rates of progress attained.
The story of the Grand Coulee Dam and a near tragedy on March 14, 1952 when the Grand Coulee began to fail. At the time the book was published, it was the largest concrete dam in the world.
Details the destruction of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest by well-intentioned Americans who saw only the benefits of the dam-building, power plant and irrigation projects, not realizing the longterm effects of killing the river.
Author : Robert E. Ficken Publisher : Washington State University Press Page : 477 pages File Size : 36,22 MB Release : 2022-01-24 Category : History ISBN : 1636820603
Rufus Woods, editor and publisher of the Wenatchee Daily World for more than forty years, has been called the “High Priest of the Columbia River.” From his editorial platform, Woods tirelessly promoted Wenatchee and north central Washington and advocated for Columbia River development. He pegged his brightest hopes on a huge dam to be built in the isolated Grand Coulee region. A founding member of the “Dam University,” Woods--through the World--helped to keep the drive for the structure alive. From 1918 through Grand Coulee’s completion in 1941, he was the leading promoter of the largest dam-building project in American history. Utilizing his newspaper and his extensive political contacts at state and national levels, Woods helped convince President Franklin Roosevelt, Congress, and the Bureau of Reclamation that the grandiose scheme was attainable. Where others despaired, he never faltered. Speaking before the 1942 Grand Coulee High School graduating class, Woods proudly boasted of the accomplishment that he helped see to reality. “So here it stands, a monument to the idea and the power of an idea; a monument to an organization; a monument to cooperation. You, class of 1942, could you come back here in a thousand years hence, you would hear the sojourners talking as they behold this ‘slab of concrete,’ and you would hear them say, ‘Here in 1942, indeed, there once lived a great people.’” Woods got his dam, but not the Wenatchee boom he desired. Possible only because of federal financing, those in control imposed a vast maze of power lines emanating from the dam’s huge hydroelectric plant. Cities like Portland and Seattle benefited from its power much more than Wenatchee. Even so, Woods’s beloved adopted home grew tremendously during his lifetime, and much of that economic development can be attributed to his single-minded efforts.
Author : Grand Coulee Dam Area Community Development Study Publisher : Page : 147 pages File Size : 31,12 MB Release : 1958 Category : Grand Coulee Dam Region (Wash.) ISBN :
This book was written by undergraduate students at The Ohio State University (OSU) who were enrolled in the class Introduction to Environmental Science. The chapters describe some of Earth's major environmental challenges and discuss ways that humans are using cutting-edge science and engineering to provide sustainable solutions to these problems. Topics are as diverse as the students, who represent virtually every department, school and college at OSU. The environmental issue that is described in each chapter is particularly important to the author, who hopes that their story will serve as inspiration to protect Earth for all life.