Bonneville Dam

The Bonneville Dam is a dam with a large lock system, which dammed the Columbia River. As the river forms the border between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington, the building is one of two states. It is located about 60 kilometers east of Portland, the nearest town is 30 kilometers away Hood River in the east. The complex was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and will be entertained by this. Near the dam is the John B. Yeon State Scenic Corridor.

The name is due to Army Captain Benjamin Bonneville ago (1796-1878), who had the Oregon Trail opened up cartographically among others.

The locks and the hydroelectric power station built in the framework of the New Deal program between 1933 and 1937. The original lock was opened in 1938 and was then the biggest one gate lock in the world.

During the Great Depression of the building many people were working. Furthermore, the building supplies up today smelters in the area with power and represents the navigability for about 200 km upstream safely. The construction of a second hydropower plant as well as another dam was begun in 1974 and completed in 1981.

The building includes the following technical equipment and geographic objects:

• First hydropower plant - construction period 1933-1937; Length of 313 m; By hydropower electrical energy is obtained at the dam by generators. The electricity is sold by the Bonneville Power Administration, a business enterprise of the Ministry of Energy of the Federal; ten generators with an output power of 526 700 kW.
• Spillway basin - construction period 1933-1937; 18 goals over a length of 442 m; it is located upstream usually 18 m above the water surface.
• Second hydropower plant - construction period 1974-1981; Length of 300.5 m; eight generators with a capacity of 558 200 kW. In addition, there are two fishways here.
• Bonneville Lock, completed in 1993; Cost: 341 million U.S. dollars; Length: 206 m; Width: 26 m. A smuggling takes about 30 minutes.
• Lake Bonneville at Cascade Locks - Length: 77 km; The serving as a reservoir lake is dammed by the Bonneville Dam and is part of the Columbia - Snake Inland Waterway.

The Bonneville Dam was started in 1987 by the American Society of Civil Engineers in the List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

Visitor Centers ( Bonneville Lock and Dam visitor centers ) are located both in Oregon and in Washington. The supervision of all systems is performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer park rangers; these are also making the guides.