LAKE ROOSEVELT The Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project

Cover

THE PRESIDENT REVISITS THE GRAND COULEE DAM

Introduction

Purposes of the project
Scope of the work
Locations
Facilities for visitors

SECTION I. THE PROJECT

The Grand Coulee Dam

Type and size of dam
Elevations on the project
Comparative size
Volume of concrete
Quantity of cement
Spillway, gates, and outlets
Foundation exploration
Foundation grouting

Columbia River storage basin

Size and capacity
Useful storage capacity
Silt
Lands on reservoir site

Power and irrigation

Problems inseparable
Power on the Columbia Basin Project

Power plant at Grand Coulee Dam

Generating capacity
Turbines
Auxiliary power plants

Pumping on the Columbia Basin Project

Pumping plant at the dam
Auxiliary pumping plants

Balancing reservoir in the Grand Coulee

Size and capacity
Canals and distributing system

Lands to be irrigated

Ownership of lands
Climate on project lands
Soil and crops on project lands

Project problems

Control of speculation
Cost of water rights
Years required for completion
Development of the Upper Columbia River Basin
The effects of irrigation

SECTION II. CONSTRUCTION OF THE GRAND COULEE DAM

Brief history of origin
Auxiliary construction
Towns at the Coulee Dam
Excavation
Conveyors
Cofferdams and river diversion
The ice dam

Concrete

Concrete mixes
Concrete aggregate
Cement
Concrete mixing plants
Concrete placing
Cooling
Construction features
Grouting

Administration

Where the money goes
Design, supervision, construction
The Bureau of Reclamation

SECTION III. THE COLUMBIA RIVER AND ITS WATERSHED

The Columbia River Basin

Extent of the Columbia watershed
The Columbia River
The Kootenai River
The Clark Fork River
The Spokane River
Columbia River above Grand Coulee

The Columbia Lava Plateau

The origin of the plateau
The Grand Coulee
The Dry Falls of the Columbia
Lower Grand Coulee

BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA

The topography of more than a million acres of land must be taken as a guide in designing irrigation works

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"The significance of the dam is not found alone in the magnitude of its dimensions, nor in the workmanship that has gone into its construction. It lies rather in the ends which are to be served."—Harold L. Ickes.

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
John C. Page, Commissioner

Photographs by the Bureau of Reclamation
Prepared by the Division of Information

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Marks, buried under years of growth of witness trees, guided surveyors reestablishing property lines in the reservoir area