Day 13 - 9/17 - Spokane to Grand Coulee

This was a combination day; traveling from the campground east of Spokane to the small town of Wilbur, Washington. Wilber is near Grand Coulee Dam. The town is so small that it doesn’t have a Walmart. However, it is getting a Dollar General.

Our overnight point was Goose Creek Campground. Our main reason for this stop was to visit Grand Coulee Dam. We arrived in at the Visitor Center in time for the 3:30 tour of the dam. After a rigorous security screening, our tour group was driven by van to one of the power houses where we descended below water level by elevator for a view of the turbine-driven generators. (Our guide had worked in Kentucky at Mammoth Cave; small world.)

Grand Coulee Dam is 500 feet wide at its base, stands 550 feet tall, and weighs 24 million tons. It’s weight alone holds it in place. There are now three power stations at the dam. The first two were installed when the dam was built in the 1930s. The third was created in the 1960s. Though containing the same number of generators, they are more powerful that the original ones. The newer power house generates 60% of the electrical energy produced at Grand Coulee. This power plan can house four football fields. We were told that Grand Coulee has yet to function at maximum capacity.

After a tour of the power house, we were taken by van out onto the top of the dam which stretches a mile across Theodore Roosevelt Lake. Until 9/11/2001, traffic could drive across the dam but it is no longer permitted except by authorized personnel and escorted tours.

Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower producer in the United States and irrigates more than 671,000 acres within the Columbia Basin. In total, the six penstocks deliver 259,000 gallons of water per second traveling through the generators to power approximately 4.2 million homes in the Pacific Northwest. There is a reason this dam is the Eighth Wonder of the world!

This was our view upon arrival at Grand Coulee Dam after descending

several hundred feet on the road down to the Visitor Center. The others

side of the Columbia River is about one mile from where

this photo was taken. There’s park area on below.

When built, Grand Coulee was a significant achievement. It remains

as such today. It is the largest dam in North America

by weight; three times that of Hoover Dam.

The power house gallery is more than a city block long and 

contains six pumps and six pump-generators.

The pumps lift water into Banks Lake and ultimately into the

Columbia River Basis to irrigate farm land. The power

of the pumps pushes irrigation water up 280 feet to

Franklin D. Roosevelt Reservoir.

The pump-generators operate in one of two modes. During the

irrigation season they pump water. During periods of electrical

need they become turbine-generation units.

The generators were made by General Electric.

The turbines are rated at 65,000 horsepower.

And here we are at the top of the dam. The dam is

about the same height as the Washington Monument,

just no stairs to climb. Did we say it was windy?

We returned for the laser light show that was projected on the spillway
of the dam. The show was 30 minutes in length complete with

voice and musical accompaniment.

Byron takes photos of interpretive signs. It’s the fastest way he knows of

taking notes that can job the mind later on. This is a bit hard to read

from Blogspot so the guide to the photo is provided. From left to right from

below the dam: Third Power Plant, Gantry Crane (used for lifting heavy

equipment or the screens that catch trash), 40 ft. Diameter Penstock 

trough which water flows to the turbines), Incline Elevator, 525 KV Lines,

Right Power House, Outlet Tubes, Spillway, Left Power House (the

one that is open for public viewing by tour groups).

One last photo placed here for a reason. The drive from Spokane

to Wilbur (Grand Coulee) goes across high and dry plains

where there are large fields of wheat that had been

harvested. We didn’t know wheat could be grown in

such dry conditions.

By the way, this photo was taken between mountain ranges in the Rockies; such a wide expanse of gently rolling hills with changes in elevation of a few hundred feet. Still, far from the nearest grocery. In addition to the high plains, there are some areas that are called scablands because they are made of rocky and mineral-enriched soil (not tillable) that is mixed with large shards of lava. Lava does break down easily into small rocks like large clumps of coal.