2024 Grand Coulee Dam Tour
Topic: Grand Coulee Dam Tour
Date: Friday, Sept. 15, 2023
Time: 12:00 PM (noon) – 4:30 PM
Place: Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center
Tour Summary:
Great weather. We stayed at the dam and went into all three powerhouses. Our guides were Natalie and Ben from the USBR. We visited generator (stator, turbine, turbine pit, draft tube and governor controls and protection systems). Attendance was 19.
Agenda
12:00 pm – Welcome and Introductions
12:30 pm – 4:30 Tour of the switchyard, Banks Lake Headwork, Coulee Dam and Powerhouses
The tour will start at 12:00 noon at the Visitor Center where we will receive a safety briefing. We will then get into USBR vans and head to the Banks Lake Headworks, BPA 230kV&500kV yards, Crown Point viewing area, 3rd Powerhouse and top of dam. Then back to the vans and visitor center by 4:30.
Summary
Built by the Army Corps of Engineers between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee Dam was the largest concrete structure in the world for decades. With the expansion of the third power station in 1974 made it the largest power plant in the world at the time. It still remains the largest power plant in the USA with a capacity of over 6 GW in three power stations.
