History of the Grand Coulee Dam

The 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 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.

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.