Rocky Reach Dam

Last crawled date: 1 year, 1 month ago

Quick facts about the Rocky Reach Dam Construction started on the dam in 1956 and it went into commercial operation with seven generators in 1961 (six months ahead of schedule). Four additional generators were installed in 1969. The original site considered for the dam was about one mile upriver of where it currently sits. Rocky Reach Dam was featured on an episode of ‘Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe’ on the Discovery Channel. During the initial construction of the dam, 3.3 million cubic yards of dirt and rock were moved to make way for the structure. The cost of the original project was over 270 million dollars and no tax money was used. Bonds were sold to fund the project with future energy sales going towards paying off the bonds. Because of the raising of the water level behind the dam; rail tracks, a highway, and almost the entire town of Entiat had to be relocated. Rocky Reach Dam currently has 11 generators with a peak generating capacity of 1,401,000 kilowatts. There are 12 spillway gates. Employment on the project peaked in July of 1961 with 2,184 employees. A state-of-the-art juvenile fish bypass was built across the dam in 2003. (The long pipe that runs the along the face of the dam) #Rocky_Reach_Dam