Bonneville Dam (#0459)

Bonneville Dam…

The Bonneville Dam is is a much more complex structure than I had expected. My previous experience with dams, including some quite large ones, has been for the powerhouse hydroelectric portion and the spillway to be all in one large structure. At Bonneville Dam, the powerhouses are separate dams from the spillway (see the Crop of Engineers website linked below).

The amount of water coming down the Columbia surprised me – Bonneville and all of the other dams had quite heavy flows coming over their spillways. I’ve never been along the Columbia in the Spring, so I don’t know if these amounts are unusual.

Multiple of the structures that make up the Bonneville Dam, including the spillway, were built by the Public Works Administration (PWA) of the New Deal.

Corp of Engineers: www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Locations/Columbia-River/Bonneville (excellent map)
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneville_Dam
New Deal: livingnewdeal.org/projects/bonneville-dam-columbia-river-gorge-national-scenic-area-or