5-23-2023 Electric City & Grand Coulee Dam

The shore of Banks Lake, just steps
away from our campsite

Catch of the day - walleye!  Yum!
He didn't offer us any... Hmmmm.

Our campground is on a peninsula out in the middle of Banks Lake at the base of Steamboat Rock.  It’s blue and glass smooth, there are beaches and boat launches for the avid fishermen who have a ball hauling in the huge trout, walleye and bass.  We were surprised to learn that Banks Lake is man-made.  Let me explain.  Where to begin.

Our camp at the base of Steamboat Rock
(white arrow)

Noobee and the Jeepster at our campsite

 

First, many millions of years ago the ice age and  floods that followed crashed through the valley.  It washed away the loose rocks and dirt and left behind monster cliffs and rocks like Steamboat Rock and between these, vast riverbeds called coulees.  When the Columbia River changed course, it left behind the coulees that dried up and were covered with sandy, dusty dirt called loess, an arid wasteland.

 

In 1933, the Grand Coulee Dam project was launched by FDR as part of his create-jobs policy.  Some engineers said the Columbia River could never be tamed, it was impossible.  But those who had a dream, and probably plenty of whiskey and chew, had already drawn up the blueprints.  Thousands of hardy souls in search of work during the Depression flocked westward.  They went to work for $.80/hour and fatigue was not an option.  If a worker had to take time off, he was immediately replaced by another from the rows of hundreds who were queued up seeking work. 

 

The massive spillway just behind us

The first goal was to divert the river to remove the loess, one truckload at a time, down to solid bedrock where piles could be driven.  It seemed like a hopeless task.  Every shovelful of the dusty loess removed caused the adjacent soil to avalanche down and fill up the hole.  The engineers came up with a plan that worked.  They froze the adjacent soil with an ammonia solution and cleared a small area at a time.  When cleared, the pouring of concrete began.  Twelve million cubic yards were poured, in the end, enough to build a 4-foot wide sidewalk around the earth’s equator twice.  It is the largest man-made structure in the country (used to be the world but China has since surpassed us).  Perspective on its size:  Hoover Dam was built with 3 million cubic yards of concrete.  Grand Coulee is 5,000 feet wide, Hoover Dam, 1,200.  Grand Coulee generates 7,000 megawatts of power, Hoover 2,000.  Anther fun statistic:  One breakfast for 950 hungry laborers involved 3,000 pancakes, 25 gallons of syrup, 200 lb. of bacon, 1,000 eggs and 75 gallons of coffee.

Divers went down to make sure the base of the
dam was set soundly.  The suit was five layers
thick, 3 canvas and 2 rubber.  The shoes weigh 25
pounds, the suit 40 and the helmet 80.

 

Now to my original point.  Vast acres of arid land still lay waste in the northwest, sere and thirsty.  What to do, what to do.  In order to get double duty out of the channeled water that was so far creating hydroelectric power, the engineers came up with another idea.  “Project creep,” we call it.  Pumps and enormous tubes called penstocks were installed above the dam.  Water is drawn from Roosevelt Lake, created by the dam, and is pumped up and over the adjacent hill to a canal where it flows down to fill the next coulee.  Thus, the 30-mile-long Banks Lake was created and its waters are used to irrigate millions of acres of what is now rich, fertile farmland and ranchland.

 

The Indian tribes were a bit unhappy about the dam, it having made it impossible for fish to make it upriver to spawn.  The fish were the Indians’ lifeline.  Fish hatcheries were created to seed Banks, Roosevelt and other nearby lakes.  They supply 1.2 million fish to the lakes per year.

 

In sum, the colossal Grand Coulee Dam supplies hydroelectric power to 11 western states, irrigates vast swaths of farm and ranch land and provides jobs and food to millions.  What a thing.

 

Now, we are in Snohomish, WA and we’ll spend a little time with Rick and Trina, our kids and parents of the bride.  I shall return.