Parking Lot At Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Lot
Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon Dam
Canyon Dam
View Of Lake Powell Just Above Glen Canyon Dam
Lake Powell Lies In Hugh Cliffs Canyons. Notice Four Boats
More Boats On Lake Powell As Seen From Overlooks Along The Highway.
Dock Area On Lake Powell. Here The Lake Is Getting Out Of The Deep Canyons And
Spreading Out More
Glen Canyon Dam Power Plant That Generates Electricity
Buried Deep And In The Bottom Of The Dam Is The Power Plant That Produces Electricity. Water
Turns Turbine Wheels Like This To Turn Generators Which Produce Electricity. The Next
Photographs Explain This.
Explanation Of How The Turbine Works
Enlargement of Explanation Of How The Turbine Works
Completion Of Explanation Of How The Turbine Works
Dinosaur Tracks In Rocks At Glen Canyon Dam
Enlargement Of Dinosaur Sign
There You Are Dinosaur Tracks In The Rocks
Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch dam that was built to provide hydroelectricity and flow regulation of the Upper Colorado River basin to the lower basin. Lake Powell produced by the dam is the second largest artificial lake in the country with its arm extending well into Utah. States have argued about river water for decades and who is using more than they should or that they should even lower their use to permit more water to flow to states downriver. In 1922 the Colorado River Compact was established to allow the upper basin to better utilize its allocation of the river water. Another main reason for the compact was to store up water to be delivered to the lower basin during years of drought. Then of course there was the need to try and control flooding. The Glen Canyon Dam was proposed in 1950. Like any such project there are various groups that oppose the project for many reason such as location, environmental concerns, costs, design, etc. The dam was started in 1956 and was finished ten years later in 1966 at a cost of $135 million. I am not sure how long it took to fill the reservoir but before it was completely filled they were permitting water to flow downstream. The capacity of Lake Powell is 26,214,900 acre feet. That is a lot of water. The power plant has five 165 MV and three 157 MV Turbines like the one pictures several photographs above.
It is one thing to study, argue, fund and actually get ready to built a project like Glen Canyon Dam but it another to actually do it. For example Glen Canyon Dam site was located in a rugged remote area of the Colorado Plateau, more than 30 miles from the nearest paved road.. So a new road had to be constructed. In fact that road was Highway 98 which I drove on to get to the dam site. From the dam later Highway 98 was continued on to Kanab, Utah which is a popular place for tourist to stay while visiting the various state and National Parks in the area.
Another problem was to get the construction equipment and materials across the Colorado River to the other end of the dam. Initially a very weak foot bridge was constructed for the workers but this would not handle heavy equipment so a normal highway bridge was need to carry heavy trucks and equipment. A contract for $4 million was issued for the construction of a bridge which began in late 1956 and was completed on 11 August 1957. The Glen Canyon Bridge is the highest bridge of its kind in the United States and one of the highest in the world.. The bridge is 1,271 feet long and is 700 feet above the Colorado River. The bridge its self is a major tourist attraction.
As you would expect when a construction project of this magnitude started workers from all over started showing up for the work. Where to put them? Soon a construction camp of tents and trailers sprang up. In the planning for the construction of the dam plans also did considered a " town " for the workers. This town eventually turned out to be Page, Arizona which exists today.
What about stopping the flow of the river so you can build the dam. This meant they had to construct tunnels around the dam site to divert the river. They made two tunnels 2,700 feet long and 41 feet in diameter. One tunnel was built at river level to carry the river around the dam while the other one was 33 feet higher and would be used only in flood times. These had hugh steel gates to be raised or lowered as necessary. All this area is primarily composed of Navajo Sandstone which posed major difficulties in drilling the tunnels because of frequent cave ins and slides of the soft stone. Some of these was of major proportions. In 1958 the face of a tunnel gave way and sent tons of material down. To show the amount of stone in this collapse it was used to build two cofferdams to hold the water back from the dam site. One of these cofferdams was 168 feet high and it could back up several million aces of water.
I would loved to have seen some of this construction. Imagine the size of the rock crushers that would have been needed to make the gravel, the sand, and the plants needed to manufacture the cement and finally the plants to mix the concrete and mix it at the rate needed.. A new cement plant was constructed in Clarksdale, Arizona which is south of Flagstaff, Arizona many miles away. A Hugh concrete plant was constructed at the dam site that had the capacity of 1,450 tons per hour. They built two cable ways with movable towers with cables to carry buckets of concrete. Each bucket carried 12 yards of cement. That is incredible. With all the engineering and planning there is still a lot that can be learned on the job. For example as construction efficiency improved the size of the work force slowly decreased. By late 1962 they were pouring concrete at the rate of 8,000 cubic yards a day but were using significantly fewer employees.
It is interesting that they closed the gates to the tunnels that had been diverting the Colorado River before the dam was completed. The dam was now high enough to start holding back the river. When the dam was completed they then started constructing the power plant deep inside the dam. The first electricity was generated September 1964.
In 1983 the future of Glen Canyon Dam became in serious doubt and trouble. There had been an extremely heavy snowfall months before resulting deep snow pack, heavy spring rains, rapid rise in temperature along with faulty weather forecast created a very dangerous condition. Just like a perfect storm. All the above factors caused a delay in opening the flood gates and the water level started to rise. With the power plant running at full capacity and river outlets running at full capacity the lake continued to rise. Now the spillways had to be opened and this was the first time the spill ways had ever been used except for a brief test. It was reported that after a few days the entire dam suddenly began shake violently. Let me tell at that point I would have wanted to get out of there and if I happened to live below the dam I would have wanted to find some very high ground. The officials closed the spillway tunnel for inspection.They found that a great deal of damage had been done. It is interesting that the damage was being caused by what they call " heavy cavitation ". This is caused by rapidly moving water which creates vacuum pockets which when they collapse is like an explosion. These tunnels connected to the bottom of the lake and it was feared that a connection would be made to the bottom of the lake and this would allow the entire contents of the lake to to go downstream. The lake reached its highest level on July 15 1983 but through a lot of really hard work the dam was saved and great lessons were learned that showed how to stop the cavitation. The interesting thing about this is that the problem of cavitation is one that submarines have to solve to avoid the noise that cavitation make and thus makes it easy to hear the submarine. When they solved this problem they were then able to run " silent ".
To this day there is still conflict about Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. Because of the soft sandstone in the walls of the canyons thee is a lot of seepage of water out of the lake into the rock and is lost. Also, there is considerable evaporation thus a loss of water. It is estimated that these two methods amount to 6 - 8 percent of the Colorado River flow is lost. The other problem is the build up of sediment in the lake. As noted above the walls of the lake are mainly soft sand stone which erodes easily and thus the sediment. It is not a situation that we will have to worry about but estimates are that the lake will have a useful life of 300 to 700 years. The greater worry is that the sediment will build up at the base of the dam and block the different outlets used to release water. This would become serious in times of drought if the outlets were blocked and water could not be released for areas where needed downstream.
A couple of more comments. There have long been rumors about workers falling into concrete as it was being poured and were not rescued. Officials say this is not true but acknowledge that a number of workers were killed and injured on the dam site. It is noted that there are fewer boat docks than you would expect considering the size of the lake and this is caused because of the lack of roads and the steep cliffs at the edge of the lake. Finally I was not able to see the Rainbow Bridge National Monument because of the lake. Hows that? No really the lake blocked access to the monument except by boat from Lee's Ferry and then take a trail to the monument. This required more time than I had available.
I was impressed with Glen Canyon Dam and the area. I really enjoyed reading and learning about the dam and lake at the visitor center and material there. They also had excellent displays and a movie. It has been hot here today with the temperature at 94 degrees. I am hot and tired so it is time to hit the road to Mount Carmel, Utah which is about 90 miles away. I checked into the Best Western East Zion Thunderbird Lodge. I will be staying here for three nights and going out to the various parks I want to visit. I normally don't make reservation ahead of time but i made an exception this time because in the parks I have yet to visit the visitor traffic is heavy and motel space closer to the parks is going or already gone.
Beautiful Very Old Tree In Motel Parking Lot
Is Used In Making Furniture In The Rooms
Check Out The Furniture In My Room.
Check Out The Furniture In My Room.
I was talking to the people at the check in desk about the furniture in the motel. They said it was hand made by a local craftsman. He went out of business a few years ago but decided to start up again only this time in a much larger building. They have this style furniture throughout the facility. While eating in the motel restaurant ( they have a good salad bar and all sorts of " Home Made Pies " ) I noticed a history of the Thunderbird Resort and asked for a copy. I addition to the motel they have a golf course.
" In 1940, they built their first small cafe, complete with horseshoe counter, to satisfy the appetites of the early visitors to the area. When Jack died in 1961 the plans he and Fern had made were barely started. A a widow, Fern found her water rights threatened. To save them, she built a nine hole golf course. at roughly the same time, Fern saw the need for motel facilities and she built the first of her 61 guest rooms in 1969. "
" Fern never quit improving her property and providing for the increasing number of visitors to the area she loved. Since her death in 1998 her daughter, grandson, granddaughter. great grandchildren and their families carry on her dream. "
" Okay, now lets get to the question of every one's mind...the sign. The sign was made in the era ( late 40's-early 50's ) of the " Tin Men ", these were men who hand crafted the signs to precise dimensions. As luck would have it all of the lettering that Fern and Jack wanted on the sign simply would not fit. So with the letters needing to be reduced to fit, it was shortened to " Ho-made " instead of " Home Made "
" Only in recent years has the wording caused controversy...so we figured why not grap the bull by the horns, embrace our heritage and start merchandising!"
" At a time when women in business were rare and something of a scandal, Fern was a woman before her time. The Thunderbird stands today as a monument to Fern Morrison's Courage & Determination. Have a great holiday in our area! "
At the bottom of the sign pictured above you see the words " Home of the Ho-Made pies "
The restaurant here at the motel has an excellent salad bar which I made good use of and now it is time to get some rest. I have a busy day tomorrow. So remember that God Loves you and so do I.
Grandpa Bill
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