Grand Coulee

Grand Coulee PDF Author: Paul C. Pitzer
Publisher: Washington State University Press
ISBN: 1636820824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 741

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Book Description
Accolades freely and frequently lavished on Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project included “The Biggest Thing on Earth!” “The Eighth Wonder of the World!” and “The Largest Reclamation Project Ever Undertaken!” They highlight a monumental construction effort that spanned the 1930s through the 1980s. Now, for the first time, the story of this gigantic undertaking is told in this definitive history. When completed, the eleven-million-cubic-yard monolith at Grand Coulee on the Columbia River in north central Washington became the largest single block of concrete ever laid and provided an abundance of electricity that helped win World War II. Still one of the world's largest energy-producing stations, it is at the heart of a dynamic power grid that supplies all of the western United States with energy. The product of a long struggle over how to irrigate the Columbia Basin, Grand Coulee Dam resulted from the visions of eastern Washington residents, people like Wenatchee editor Rufus Woods and members of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, who saw the undertaking as a dynamic plan to bring prosperity to their region. Yet today the reclamation enterprise--more than half a century after construction began--stands only half finished. Its future depends on the nation's need for food and the willingness of the public to pay the rapidly spiraling economic and environmental costs associated with such large-scale irrigation plans. The fight for Grand Coulee Dam, and the story of its construction, is a vital and animated saga of people striving for dazzling goals and then working, often against both each other and nature, to build something spectacular. They accomplished their goal against the backdrop of the worst economic depression in the nation's history. The dam, and the extensive irrigation network it supports, stands today as a monument to their dreams and their labors.

Grand Coulee

Grand Coulee PDF Author: Paul C. Pitzer
Publisher: Washington State University Press
ISBN: 1636820824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 741

Get Book Here

Book Description
Accolades freely and frequently lavished on Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project included “The Biggest Thing on Earth!” “The Eighth Wonder of the World!” and “The Largest Reclamation Project Ever Undertaken!” They highlight a monumental construction effort that spanned the 1930s through the 1980s. Now, for the first time, the story of this gigantic undertaking is told in this definitive history. When completed, the eleven-million-cubic-yard monolith at Grand Coulee on the Columbia River in north central Washington became the largest single block of concrete ever laid and provided an abundance of electricity that helped win World War II. Still one of the world's largest energy-producing stations, it is at the heart of a dynamic power grid that supplies all of the western United States with energy. The product of a long struggle over how to irrigate the Columbia Basin, Grand Coulee Dam resulted from the visions of eastern Washington residents, people like Wenatchee editor Rufus Woods and members of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, who saw the undertaking as a dynamic plan to bring prosperity to their region. Yet today the reclamation enterprise--more than half a century after construction began--stands only half finished. Its future depends on the nation's need for food and the willingness of the public to pay the rapidly spiraling economic and environmental costs associated with such large-scale irrigation plans. The fight for Grand Coulee Dam, and the story of its construction, is a vital and animated saga of people striving for dazzling goals and then working, often against both each other and nature, to build something spectacular. They accomplished their goal against the backdrop of the worst economic depression in the nation's history. The dam, and the extensive irrigation network it supports, stands today as a monument to their dreams and their labors.

The Mightiest of Them All

The Mightiest of Them All PDF Author: L. Vaughn Downs
Publisher: ASCE Publications
ISBN: 9780784473740
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
The Mightiest of Them All: Memories of Grand Coulee Dam presents the experiences of L. Vaughn Downs from the time he started working on the dam when it was in the design stage, through the construction period and into many years of actual dam operation and maintenance. He provides glimpses into the personalities connected with the project and explains the many techniques and pieces of equipment that were developed or improved as the dam was built. Downs also devotes considerable attention to problems they encountered and the solutions developed in the hope that others will learn from these situations. This revised edition brings the story up to the current period with an examination of the upkeep and condition of the dam after 50 years, and its prospects for the future. Engineers, architects, and interested general readers will feel the thrill of this extraordinary dam, as the informative text and bounty of photographs illustrate various stages of construction and the dramatic rates of progress attained.

From Terranes to Terrains

From Terranes to Terrains PDF Author: Adam M. Booth
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813700620
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


River Lost

River Lost PDF Author: Blaine Harden
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393316902
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Details the destruction of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest by well-intentioned Americans who saw only the benefits of the dam-building, power plant and irrigation projects, not realizing the longterm effects of killing the river.

Environmental ScienceBites

Environmental ScienceBites PDF Author: Kylienne A. Clark
Publisher: The Ohio State University
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 594

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Book Description
This book was written by undergraduate students at The Ohio State University (OSU) who were enrolled in the class Introduction to Environmental Science. The chapters describe some of Earth's major environmental challenges and discuss ways that humans are using cutting-edge science and engineering to provide sustainable solutions to these problems. Topics are as diverse as the students, who represent virtually every department, school and college at OSU. The environmental issue that is described in each chapter is particularly important to the author, who hopes that their story will serve as inspiration to protect Earth for all life.

A River Lost

A River Lost PDF Author: Lynn E. Bragg
Publisher: Surrey, B.C. : Hancock House
ISBN: 9780888393838
Category : Colville Indians
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The story of how the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam led to the destruction of a way of life for members of the Arrow Lakes Tribe.

The Boys in the Boat (Movie Tie-In)

The Boys in the Boat (Movie Tie-In) PDF Author: Daniel James Brown
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593512308
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Now a Major Motion Picture Directed by George Clooney The #1 New York Times bestselling true story about the American rowing triumph of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin—from the author of Facing the Mountain For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant. It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.

The History of Large Federal Dams

The History of Large Federal Dams PDF Author: David P. Billington
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160728235
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 630

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Book Description
Explores the story of Federal contributions to dam planning, design, and construction.

Earning the Rockies

Earning the Rockies PDF Author: Robert D. Kaplan
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0399588221
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
An incisive portrait of the American landscape that shows how geography continues to determine America’s role in the world Book Club Pick for Now Read This, from PBS NewsHour and The New York Times • “There is more insight here into the Age of Trump than in bushels of political-horse-race journalism.”—The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) At a time when there is little consensus about who we are and what we should be doing with our power overseas, a return to the elemental truths of the American landscape is urgently needed. In Earning the Rockies, New York Times bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan undertakes a cross-country journey, traversing a rich and varied landscape that still remains the primary source of American power. Traveling west, in the same direction as the pioneers, Kaplan witnesses both prosperity and decline, and reexamines the history of westward expansion in a new light: as a story not just of genocide and individualism but also of communalism and a respect for the limits of a water-starved terrain. Concluding at the edge of the Pacific Ocean with a gripping description of an anarchic world, Earning the Rockies shows how America’s foreign policy response ought to be rooted in its own geographical situation. Praise for Earning the Rockies “Unflinchingly honest . . . a lens-changing vision of America’s role in the world . . . a jewel of a book that lights the path ahead.”—Secretary of Defense James Mattis “A sui generis writer . . . America’s East Coast establishment has only one Robert Kaplan, someone as fluently knowledgeable about the Balkans, Iraq, Central Asia and West Africa as he is about Ohio and Wyoming.”—Financial Times “Kaplan has pursued stories in places as remote as Yemen and Outer Mongolia. In Earning the Rockies, he visits a place almost as remote to many Americans: these United States. . . . The author’s point is a good one: America is formed, in part, by a geographic setting that is both sanctuary and watchtower.”—The Wall Street Journal “A brilliant reminder of the impact of America’s geography on its strategy. . . . Kaplan’s latest contribution should be required reading.”—Henry A. Kissinger “A text both evocative and provocative for readers who like to think … In his final sections, Kaplan discusses in scholarly but accessible detail the significant role that America has played and must play in this shuddering world.”—Kirkus Reviews

Rufus Woods, the Columbia River, & the Building of Modern Washington

Rufus Woods, the Columbia River, & the Building of Modern Washington PDF Author: Robert E. Ficken
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Rufus Woods, for more than forty years the editor and publisher of the Wenatchee Daily World, has often been called the "High Priest of the Columbia River." No person deserves the title more. From his editorial platform, Woods tirelessly promoted Wenatchee and north central Washington and long advocated the general development of the Columbia River. For decades, he pegged his brightest hopes on a huge dam in the isolated Grand Coulee region. From 1918 through Grand Coulee's completion in 1941, Rufus Woods was the leading promoter of the largest dam-building project in American history. Award-winning historian Robert Ficken has produced a full and lively biography of one of the Northwest's most influential newspapermen.