Conquering the Pacific Northwest: It was Dam Familiar

In 1997 my tour of the Grand Coulee Dam included a trip into the Third Powerplant via a glass elevator as well as the pumphouse. In 2012 the tour would only visit the pumphouse and the top of the dam. The scientific content of the tour has been more or less gutted. Once guests went through the metal detector and got on the bus to the other side of the dam where the pumphouse is, the time allotted for the hour tour was virtually half over. Truthfully, I was disappointed. The 10-year-old girls on this tour aren’t having the same, positive experience with civil engineering I did in 1997. Most of the tour was spent on the road on top of the dam for photo ops.

Prior to 9/11 the road on top of the dam was open to the public so it is nice to add this to the tour. A few years ago construction began to replace the turbines in the Third Powerplant, so it is understandable for the tour to no longer stop here. However, more than a glance at the old exhibits and a few seconds in the pumphouse gallery would be nice. What would’ve been best would have been some better informed tour guides, even if that meant charging a nominal fee for tours. And as stated previously, it was disturbing to have rent-a-cops lurking with fully automatic assault weapons.

Looking down from the top of the Grand Coulee Dam

Thankfully, margaritas have a wonderful way of washing a bad taste from your mouth. Above the dam on the shores of Roosevelt Lake is the town of Grand Coulee. La Presa is the local Mexican restaurant. While the rest of the area was sleepy, this restaurant was packed. The food and the drinks were fabulous.

We headed back to the Coulee House Motel, the same hotel I stayed at with my parents in 1997. The motel has been a work in progress since the 1950s. Some of the buildings and wings of the motel are newer than others, but once built haven’t seen much of any updating. While we didn’t stay in the same room, the bedspreads and furniture looked awfully familiar. For all of the change in the past 15 years of my life, little had changed in here. It was nice to visit a familiar friend to my 10-year-old self.

After a short rest, Chris and I walked down the main drag to the bridge over the Columbia River. The dam is the reason the town exists. Interpretive signage lines both sides of the bridge. Signs on one side describe the geologic history in the area and signs on the side facing the dam describe the history of the dam. It’s a pleasant walk and a very nice supplement to the dam tour.

Grand Coulee Dam, from the bridge, at dusk

As dark set in, 10:00pm drew nearer and a crowd began to form in the park across from the motel. Folks sat facing the dam as the gates to the spillway opened and the concrete face of the dam was covered in rushing white water. This is how they set up the screen for the nightly laser light show. Soon the old, weather-beaten speakers crackled to life and the sights and sounds seemed so familiar. The light show describes the mighty River Columbia and its relationship with the dam. As we sat to take in the show a little orange cat stopped by every single person for affection. Next year it is promised that there will be an all new laser light show.

After a hot day the cool, evening air was a dream. The walk back to our room was pleasant and we quickly fell asleep. Once again, our plans to visit the hotel pool were thwarted by our exhaustion and interest in the local history. After all, you can find a swimming pool in virtually any town. An engineering wonder of the world is much rarer. Tomorrow we would visit three states on the way to crossing into British Columbia. Some of our adventures were planned, others came as surprises.

Random trivia learned on this day: Grant County, Washington (where Grand Coulee Dam is situated) farms more potatoes than the entire state of Idaho.

Blowing in the Wind

One of the greatest benefits to going to a school like Penn State are the opportunities both offered to students and the opportunities students are able to leverage not only because of the university’s name but because at a university as big as Penn State, you can always find a small army of people with the same interest. One such example is a tour of the North Allegheny Wind Farm arranged by the Engineers for a Sustainable World student organization at Penn State. That said, on what felt like the coldest, most miserable morning of February, a small army of students gathered to convoy to the top of Cresson Mountain.

The North Allegheny Wind Farm is comprised of 75 wind turbines atop Cresson Mountain. Indeed, traveling U.S. Route 22 between Pittsburgh and Altoona will take you along the northern boundary of this wind farm. From the road it is difficult to fully appreciate the size of a wind turbine. But the noise you hear from the turbines while traveling the road is indicative of the noise generated by these behemoths.

Looking up to the blades of the turbine from the base you realize how massive these turbines are. From this vantage you also realize that they sound exactly like the wind. The only difference from the wind itself is that the sound does not cease unless the turbine is not operating. But I will be the first to admit, I would not want to live next to or among them, but a mile or more away would likely not differ from living a mile or so away from an industrial facility. In fact, here are two YouTube clips (one and two) of noise generated from wind turbines and you'll hear a significant difference between the two.

Looking up from the base of a turbine

Aside from the turbines, it was also incredible to see how healthy the land was. The streams between the turbines and along the service roads were crystal clear. The vegetation was abundant and the wildlife was described as being abundant, although that was not demonstrated on such a chilly day.

This wind farm could power much of Blair, Bedford, and Cambria counties and occupies land unable to be used for virtually anything else. In this case, the land is a former strip mine and is not close to homes. The fact the noise never ceases, even though it sounds just like the wind, could be a problem for people. I can also imagine that the buffeting may be unsettling if people lived terribly close to these turbines. But if kept a few miles from where people live and considerations are taken for wildlife, wind turbines are a fossil-fuel alternative to power generation.

At the base of a turbine at the North Allegheny Wind Farm