The Grand Coulee Dam. A remarkable achievement. From an engineering standpoint. From an environmental standpoint. From an historical standpoint. From a cultural standpoint. Truly remarkable.
Want to be impressed?
go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Coulee_Dam
I wanted to be impressed. I wanted to see it. So I re-routed my return to Tacoma. Instead of driving southwest on I-90 out of Spokane, I drove due west on U.S. Highway 2. Toward Waterville, Wenachee. In the eye-blink burg of Wilbur, about 80 miles out of Spokane, I turned onto Washington State Highway 174, heading northwest. It is a magnificent drive. Stark and scenic beyond description. And right in the middle of a return loop afforded by the junction of state Highway 155 is the mighty Columbia River. STOPPED there by the Grand Coulee Dam.
Photos don't capture the enormity of what it is, where it is. IMO? The only way to get a true sense of its remarkable presence is to drive there. Across miles and miles of open landscape. And look.
Even these apparently small bits of the dam would appear BIG anyplace else.
Concrete. Steel. Rock. And water...
"Damn!"
Making the upriver crossing of the Columbia on a steel-truss bridge, now nearly 100 years old...
... the fragile native (reservation) town of Coulee Dam attempts to lure visitors with one of the most tired looking and uninspiring Casinos in the Northwest. No, I didn't go in. I don't suspect many visitors do.
And now... do you REALLY want to be impressed?
Then consider this: The Grand Coulee Dam, once the most stupendous hydro-electric edifice ever conceived by humankind, is not even among the TOP 40 of the mega-dams now controlling the rivers of Mother Earth. If we're going to be honest about it? The Grand Coulee Dam is an artifact of the late Industrial Age. Humbling.
Want to be really, really impressed (and alarmed)? Then check out China's recently completed Three Gorges Dam. It is truly immense. And some say, a disaster waiting to happen.
go to: https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/three-gorges-dam
Making the upriver crossing of the Columbia on a steel-truss bridge, now nearly 100 years old...
... the fragile native (reservation) town of Coulee Dam attempts to lure visitors with one of the most tired looking and uninspiring Casinos in the Northwest. No, I didn't go in. I don't suspect many visitors do.
And now... do you REALLY want to be impressed?
Then consider this: The Grand Coulee Dam, once the most stupendous hydro-electric edifice ever conceived by humankind, is not even among the TOP 40 of the mega-dams now controlling the rivers of Mother Earth. If we're going to be honest about it? The Grand Coulee Dam is an artifact of the late Industrial Age. Humbling.
Want to be really, really impressed (and alarmed)? Then check out China's recently completed Three Gorges Dam. It is truly immense. And some say, a disaster waiting to happen.
go to: https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/three-gorges-dam
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