Bonneville Dam (#0456)

I know, the electric grid portion is hard on the eyes. If you look at the larger picture you’ll see that the photo isn’t out of focus, it’s just that taking that dense grid from an angle creates a visual problem.

What surprised me about Bonneville Dam is that it is composed of multiple very large river barriers and islands. The visitor center is on Bradford Island, with the spillway (see adjacent #0459) to the north of Bradford Island and the first powerhouse (this picture) to the south of Bradford Island. North of the spillway is another island and then the second powerhouse (no picture).

The first powerhouse itself is more complex than this picture shows, since it is actually two powerhouses. The far side (left side of picture) is the original powerhouse built when the dam first became operational, a much larger portion is an addition to the first powerhouse that was built in 1942. On the far left and not visible in this picture are the navigational locks (see #0463). A diagram of the first powerhouse is in photo #0455

Resources:

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