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The Grand Coulee dam (118.982W
47.965N) had just been
completed and was beginning to generate power in 1941. The
largest
concrete structure in the
world, it stretched nearly a mile across the Columbia River, and was
finished by industrialist Henry Kaiser (who later turned his
genius to shipbuilding)
two years ahead of schedule.
The cheap electrical power it could supply helped drive the development of the aircraft industry in the Pacific Northwest. Power capacity was 864,000 kW in 1941, and eight more 108,000 kW generators were scheduled to be brought online by 1946. This would constitute fully 12% of American generating capacity. The dam also served to divert water to farmers in arid eastern Washington State.
References
Grand Coulee Dam web page (accessed 2 January 2007)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2016 by Kent G. Budge. Index
