Photos, videos and docs of Don Barrett (aka DBs travels), with the keywords: "dam"

Oroville Dam (1631)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 07:15:33 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The road that goes along most of the top of the Oroville Dam for close to a mile, taken from an observation point above the dam.

This picture of the dam were taken much later than I had planned, due to a traffic accident that had closed down part of the freeway for about an hour much earlier in the day.

Chattahoochee Jim Woodruff Dam and Lock (#0601)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 08:31:32 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The hydroelectric facilities as Woodruff Dam.

Chattahoochee Jim Woodruff Dam and Lock (#604)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 08:31:34 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The lock at the Woodruff Dam. The best spot for getting a shot of the dam and lock would be on the blue bridge that is at the top of the picture -- unfortunately there's no place to stop and no sidewalk on the bridge.

Linked below is a picture of a barge and tug transiting the lock in 1958:

www.floridamemory.com/items/show/75458

(Part of a photo-essay series on personal history and race, with keyword FlaAla0518)

Chattahoochee Jim Woodruff Dam and Lock (Google)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 08:31:31 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Satellite view of Woodruff Dam and Lake Seminole.

Chattahoochee Jim Woodruff Dam and Lock (#0600)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 08:31:27 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The Jim Woodruff Dam which impounds the waters of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, releasing them into the Apalachicola River at Chattahoochee, Fl. The dam, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, was completed in 1952; it was built for flood control and hydroelectric generation. It contains one lock to accommodate barge and recreational boat traffic that moves from the Chattahoochee river, down the Apalachicola river, to the Gulf. The dam creates Lake Seminole, which is mainly in Georgia, and the east end of the dam (the center of this picture) is in Georgia.

I recall there being quite a bit of controversy about this dam’s construction that was still debated when I was driving through this area regularly back in the early 70’s. Unfortunately, an Internet search on that controversy did not generate very much information, but suggested multiple issues. What follows is an effort to try to summarize those issues; not being an expert on that system, some of this may be not quite right.

One key issue for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint system is that Atlanta is at the headwaters of the Chattahoochee and, as a rapidly growing metropolitan area, it reduces the flow by siphoning off a large volume of water for its citizens. Secondly, there’s a long history of cities along the river (including the metropolitan areas of Atlanta and Columbus, GA) dumping both sewage and toxic waste directly into the river. Both of these two factors influence the health of Apalachicola Bay in Florida.

A third factor is the barge canal. The Chattahoochee and Apalachicola rivers were an important shipping system before and immediately after the Civil War due to extensive water, and then hydroelectric, powered industrial (especially textile) development in the Columbus, GA. area. Though the gains in railroad access around the turn of the 20th century resulted in waterborne shipping on the rivers becoming much less frequent, dams later built on the river were designed for barge traffic. Apparently there continues to be some barge traffic, but it is argued that it is not enough to justify the environmental damage caused by continued dredging to maintain the canal.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Seminole
www.janandpat.net/dams/acoe/woodruff.htm
tfaoi.com/aa/6aa/6aa369.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chattahoochee_River

(Part of a photo-essay series on personal history and race, with keyword FlaAla0518)

Curecanti Nat Rec Morrow Point Dam (# 0209)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 08:09:32 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The Gunnison below the dam is the Crystal Reservoir; the Crystal Reservoir is the last of the three dam/reservoirs on the Gunnison. The Crystal Dam is not easily accessible, so there is no picture of it.

Further below Crystal Dam and on the east end of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park at East Portal is a small diversion dam with a historic tunnel. On the link below is a photo from the East Portal area taken in 2002: www.flickr.com/photos/donbrr/4210132835

Curecanti Nat Rec Blue Mesa Dam (# 0239)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 20 Sep 2017 07:40:57 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Blue Mesa Dam on the Gunnison River, built in 1966,

Elephant Butte Dam, NM (# 0834)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 07:30:24 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Elephant Butte dam, with the spillway on the left, from downstream.

Elephant Butte Dam, NM/Rio Grande (# 0831)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 07:30:17 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

From the dam looking down the Rio Grande.

Elephant Butte Dam, NM (# 0830)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 07:30:10 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

As repeatedly happens, I’m amazed by the aesthetics of early 20th century infrastructure construction. At the time of its construction the area was so remote that there was no need for the electric capacity of the dam (other than for the dam itself), yet they built the dam with an elegant, light-lined, concourse across the top.

Elephant Butte Dam, NM reservoir (# 0824)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 07:30:03 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Elephant Butte reservoir, from the dam. The name "Elephant Butte" came from the name of butte on the right side of the photo. Before the reservoir was built, the butte was said to look like an elephant (I don't see that).

Elephant Butte Dam, NM (# 0827)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 07:29:54 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

It turned out I should have done more homework about Elephant Butte Dam!

Since neither the dam nor the Rio Grande valley are talked about much, I had assumed it was a post-war dam of minor importance. Only when I found it to be a rather elegant looking dam dating from the 1910’s did I realize how wrong I was.

The dam, constructed from 1911 to 1916, was the largest irrigation dam ever built until 1970 and the reservoir was the world’s largest irrigation reservoir at the time of the dam’s construction. The dam was also the cause of the first international (Mexico and the U.S.) and interstate (Texas and New Mexico) debates regarding water rights.

Sources:
NPS: www.nps.gov/articles/new-mexico-elephant-butte-dam-and-spillway.htm
Wikipedia (dam): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Butte_Dam
Wikipedia (reservoir): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Butte_Reservoir

McNary Dam WA (#0409)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 07:30:37 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

McNary Dam, just upriver from Umatilla, OR. Completed with all power units operational in 1957, 7,365 feet long; the navigation lock has a vertical lift of 75 feet.

Source: www.nww.usace.army.mil/Locations/District-Locks-and-Dams/McNary-Lock-and-Dam

McNary Dam WA (#0406)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 07:30:33 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Plymouth WA (#0411)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 07:30:29 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The tunnel here appears to be the railroad tunnel (former) bored through a basaltic rock formation mentioned in this website: columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/plymouth.html

Plymouth WA (#0410)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 07:30:20 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The tunnel here appears to be the railroad tunnel (former) bored through a basaltic rock formation mentioned in this website: columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/plymouth.html

John Day Columbia Aluminum (#0426)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 06:57:50 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

Adjacent to John Day Dam was a large aluminum smelter. Making aluminum requires very high amounts of electricity, thus it was appropriate to build the smelter next to a hydroelectric dam. The smelter began operation in 1969 and changed hands many times over the years, it stopped operation in 2003. Currently the owners manage hazardous and solid waste at the site. Due to the nature of aluminum smelting, the site is likely to be highly contaminated with asbestos. See the satellite picture to get a sense of the size of the operation.

The only information I could find about the site came from the following two sources:

Washington state: fortress.wa.gov/ecy/gsp/Sitepage.aspx?csid=11797
Mesothelioma.com: www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/jobsites/aluminum-plants/columbia-aluminum.htm

John Day dam (#0425)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 06:57:41 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

John Day Dam seen from the Washington side of the river.

Linked below is an interesting picture of a Union Pacific passenger (excursion) train on new tracks on the Oregon side that were built in the late 1960’s to accommodate the flooding that was to occur after the dam was completed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Day_844.jpg

John Day dam fish ladder (#0350)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 06:16:25 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

The northern fish ladder on the dam.

John Day dam (#0349)

nobody@ipernity.com (Don Barrett (aka DBs travels)) — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 06:16:19 +0000

Don Barrett (aka DBs travels) has posted:

I had struck up a conversation with a fisherman at the dam, he said that these two gates in the spillway (in the center of the picture) were specifically opened to facilitate fish passage.