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N 47' 57.177" |
Latitude |
W 118' 59.351" |
Longitude |
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Photo from: United States Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation Grand Coulee Dam Project Office |
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Jordan Leskinen |
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Inscription Grand Coulee Dam is the key structure in water utilization for the Columbia River Basin. The dam began operating in 1942 and is one of the world's largest concrete structures. It is a mile long and contains almost 12 million cubic yards of concrete (9 million cubic meters). It weighs over 24 million tons (22 million metric tons). |
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Inscription at the viewpoint called: Crown Point State Park Heritage Area Highway 174 Milepost 19.8 Grand Coulee Dam When completed in 1941, Grand Coulee Dam was the world's largest concrete structure. It still is today. President Franklin D. Roosevelt supported this massive federal project to dam the Columbia River because it put people to work during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The dam would also produce huge amounts of electricity and supply water to irrigate over a million acres of new farmland. Officials thought the losses of salmon runs and riverside communities were unfortunate but necessary costs. Thousands of workers spent eight years building the dam. They mined sand and gravel, polished bedrock for the foundation, and froze hillsides to prevent slides. They poured millions of yards of concrete and installed generators to produce electricity. Completed just as the United States entered the Second World War, the dam's electricity powered critical wartime industries. Irrigation began in the early 1950s, when water was pumped through huge tubes from Lake Roosevelt, behind the dam, to Banks Lake on the plateau above. The Grand Coulee Dam is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior. There is a visitor center at the dam.
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Aerial Photo from: United States Department of Interieor Bureau of Reclamation Grand Coulee Dam Project Office |
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Some of the recreational activities you can do at Lake Roosevelt include swimming, fishing, tubing and boating. Laser light show on the history of the area and the dam are shown from Memorial Day until Labor Day and broadcasts on 90.1 FM Festival of America begins during the Fourth of July holidays. Also visit the Fourth of July Pow Wow at Nespelem fourteen miles north of Grand Coulee Dam. A great view can be seen from Crown Point State Park Heritage Area--Highway 174 Milepost 19.8 For further information see: http://www.nsd.wednet.edu/8web0102/sop/index.htm Call Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-268-5332 |
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Franklin D. Roosevelt |
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photo by grade 4 |
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1 References: http://www.grandcouleedam.org/dam.html
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