Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1934-04-27
Grand Coulee Dam
BY James O'Sullivan

Very few people in the northwest
realize that at the Grand Coulee dam
site on the mighty Columbia river
the foundations for a new empire,
that will double the population and
immeasurably increase the wealth of
the states of Washington, Oregon and
Idaho, are now being laid. At the
point where the Grand Coulee, the
ancient abandoned channel of the
Columbia, intersects the river, the
federal government, under the direc.
ton of the bureau Of reclamation is
now making extensive preparations
for the construction of the first unit
of the Grand Coulee dam and power
plant. The reports of the war and
interior departments demonstrate that
this development, when completed to
it's full height, will constitute the
master key dam on the entire Colum-
ba river; will afford the longest
stretch of navigation of any dam on
the stream; develop the largest and
cheapest block Of electric power in the
United States; vastly increase the
power at every damsite downstream;
materially reduce the floods on the
lower river; and will make possible
in the future the gradual reclamation,
when and as needed, of the richest
body of semi-arid land left in the
west.
The plans and specifications Of the
first unit of the Grand Coulee dam
and power plant, which will be ready
for bidders in April, 1884, will call for
the construction of a gravity dam $50
feet high above low water, 3400 feet
long on the, crest, requiring 100000
cubic yards'-of concrete, and power
plant that will develop 100000 in,
stalled horsepower. The downstream
toe Of the high dam and the down
be so constructed that it will not be
necessary to divert the river or to
use cofferdams during the constrrc
ton of the high dam. The federal
government has allocated $63,00O,0c'
for the construction Of the first unit.
The completed structure will be
about $40 feet high above bedrock,
400 feet thick at the base, exclusive
of the downstream toe, 400 feet long
on the crest, and will contain 11,O00,
600 cubic yards of concrete or 21a
times the yardage placed in Boulder
dam. There will be roadway "a
| feet wide across the top of the high
dam. The power houses will gener-
ate 2,560,OOo installed horsepower, at
a cost of LA mills per kilowatt hour
for the prime, and 0.5 mill for the
secondary, or flood water, power. The
cost of the completed dam and power
plant is estimated to be about $172,-
| 100000.
The first unit will provide naviga-
ton upstream from the damsite for
distance Of about 70 miles, and the
completed development, for distance
of ISL miles, or to the Canadian
boundary. When a low dam is CON
structed at the boundary, there will
be navigation from the Grand Coulec
site to Revelstoke, B. G., distance
of approximately 800 miles. No other
dam on the entire Columbia river re
commended by the war department
for the comprehensive development Of
that stream will provide any such
stretch of navigation.
The ultimate power development at
the Grand Coulee will be twice as
great as that at Boulder dam and one
third larger than the combined de-
velopment' at Niagara falls. Accord
ing to Col. Hugh l.. Cooper, famous
builder of dams, the cost of developing
Grand Coulee power will be cheaper
than the cost Of developing Niagara
] power. Engineers generally agree
that they know of no other power site
[ where such masses Of power can ii
produced at such a low price.
The high Grand Coulee dam Will
provide 5,02S,000 acre-feet of useful
storage, by far the largest storage de
velopment contemplated on the entire
Columbia River system. BY drawing
down the stored waters to depth
of 80 feet III winter time, when the
river is running low, the potential
power of the Columbia river down