The new and old of Grand Coulee Dam captured in video

The Grand Coulee Dam web site, www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee, now includes a couple of videos taking you to the future and past.

A three minute video, “Revitalizing and Managing the Nation’s Powerhouse,” includes time lapse video of generators undergoing a $118 million upgrade to help preserve power benefits for another generation.

Begun in 2013, the Third Power Plant upgrades are expected to take another 10 years to complete. The first part of the project has included the overhaul of the three largest generators in the world at 805 megawatts each. The overhaul of these units is expected to be completed in 2017. A contract will be issued for the three 600 megawatt generating units and work is expected to begin in 2018. The overhaul brings about 30 - 50 contract workers into the area at any given time. Said Lynne Brougher, the Grand Coulee Dam Public Affairs Officer, “It’s certainly helping to keep the local economy strong.”

The second video, “Grand Coulee Dam: A Man Made Marvel,” is a 42 minute piece filled with historical images and a narrative that places building of the dam and what it meant to the Columbia Basin in context. Said Brougher, “It includes never seen before video of the dam under construction.”