The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1944-05-25
The Big
Annual Show
Goes On

SPOKANE, Wash.--While Grand
Coulee Dam was building and be-
fore Pearl Harbor, tourists and VS.
itors from every state IN the Union
and from many countries OF the
world were visiting the great struc-
ture, and were it not for the war
this is the time of year they would
be flocking there now, for again TIE
annual spring flood of the Column
bia river has plunged over the en-
tire width of the dam. 1t has created
once more, what each year is one
of the worlds most spectacular wa
terfalls.
Water not now used in the 800,-
OOO-kilowatt poWerplant to produce
vital hydroelectric power for war
industries is hurting over eight Of
the eleven steel drum gates which
form the crest of the l650-foot wide
middle section Of the worlds larg-
est concrete structure, and soon Blu
reau engineers will lower the re-
manning three. The gates, each OF
which IS % feet high, 1876 feet long,
and weighs about 500 tons, control
the rate of flow, and to degree the
quantity of water held In storage
on the reservoir.
Compared at average flood max
imum, the cataract at Grand Coulce
Dam is surpassed in horsepower by
only one or two waterfalls in the
world. At the average peak Of the
yearly run-off, the volume at the
dam (about 100000 cubic feet per
second) is third greater than that
of Niagara, three to four times that
of the famous Victoria Falls on the
Zambesi river in South Africa. The
man-made discharge, dropping $50
to $50 feet, is twice as high as Nj
agara and equal in height to Vic
toria Falls.
This years spring flood waters
first began to glide over the spill
way on April q. AS more and more
gates were lowered, the width of
the cataract was gradually increased
The elevation Of the reservoir is
1872 feet above sea level and that
of the river downstream, 942 feet.
The turbulence of the waterfall
in the bucket, or trough. at the toe
of the steep concrete incline de-
scribes at a glance-better than a
thousand Words-the reason Grand
Coulee Dam is considered one of the
greatest power sites in the world
At the average flood peak of the
Columbia, the energy of the fall
ing water dissipated in the bucket
is equivalent to more than 10000,
600 horsepower, Bureau of Reclama-
ton engineers said
In the poWefhotse adjacent to the
spillway, another mass of water is
falling a distance about equal TO
that pouring over the spillWay to
drive eight giant turbines, which
are producing the largest block of
power ever developed at one site,
about 6O0,O00,O00 kilowatt-hours
per month On the basis Of the out
put of the last four months, the
Grand Coulee plant is the worlds
largest power producer. More than
80 per cent of its output goes either
directly or indirectly to Pacific
Northwest war industries.
Although the depth Of the snow
cover in the mountains which form
the drainage basin for the Column
bia river is considerably below
normal this year, the volume of wa
ter that will plunge over the spill
way at the peak Of the 1914 runoff,
in June or July, would probably
provide every man, woman, and
child in the United States with a
gallon of water every minute, or
fill more than $50 railroad tank cars
Ga train, " miles long, every sec
ond.