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A Dam Storyby William C. Suran |
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If I mentioned I spent a half hour under the Colorado River, you would think the man in the white coat had better be on his way. But I swear it was true. The Grand Canyon Pioneers Society took a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam through the courtesy of Jeff Waite, chief operator of the dam. Jeff claimed he was not a guide but he did a wonderful job of explaining the operation at Glen Canyon.
We began our tour the same way all tourists do. Saw the usual view of the eight huge turbines and transformers and looked at the river below the dam. Then we donned hard hats and had an adventure none of us will forget for a long time.
We were fortunate the personnel working inside the huge concrete block across the Colorado River had dismantled one of the giant turbines for repair, parts were all over the place, a piece here and another over there. Not just little parts, some of them weighed in at around thirty tons. At our first stop we peered over the edge of a huge circular hole that dropped into the bowels of the building five stories below where the turbine would normally have been. Jeff explained that we couldn't see much from here but not to be discouraged. We went from floor to floor in the power plant and viewed the hole from different vantage points all the way to the bottom. At each location Jeff explained which piece fitted into the gaping space and the purpose of it being there. At the bottom we arrived at the "Squirrel cage" where water from Lake Powell would normally pour through approximately fifteen foot diameter tubes with force enough to rotate the core of the turbine at high speed and create electricity. If any of us suffered from claustrophobia we would have had an attack here as we crawled into a small opening, down a ladder into the chamber where the water would normally roar through. We walked around looking at the fins that would catch the water and force it into the cage to turn the generator. The circular space looked a little like a snail shell. It began with a diameter of about ten feet and as it proceeded around the turbine it diminished to only a few feet. This kept the force equal all around. From here the water ran through the bottom of the housing into the river below the dam. Going down still another flight of stairs to below the river we viewed the tubes that carried the water to the river. That is how we managed to walk under the Colorado.
It was interesting to learn that from Glen Canyon Jeff controls the dams on the Gunnison River in Colorado, the Green River in Wyoming and Utah as well as Glen Canyon dam. From his office he demonstrated how he kept tab of just what output came from every dam and knew instantly if anything went wrong even as far away as Flaming Gorge Dam in northern Utah. Jeff informed us how each of these generating plants would automatically pick up and supply power wherever needed throughout the western part of the country. If a generating plant suddenly went down in California diminishing the required amount of electricity to an area Glen Canyon could supply the energy in a fraction of a second. This would take place so fast no one would know it occurred. This is not all. The voltage, amperage and cycle must all remain exact. If any of these got out of hand it would cause trouble, such as burn out your refrigerator or blow up your television set. This control is Jeff's responsibility.
If all our workers in the United States were as dedicated and enthusiastic about their jobs as Jeff Waite is, the Japanese would eat their words about the American workers being lazy. We have placed this responsibility on a virtually self-educated young man dedicated to his job of serving the American people.
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Used by permission of the Grand Canyon Pioneers Society.
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