Industrial History: 1938 Bonneville Lock, Dam and Powerhouse on Columbia River

Thursday, July 25, 2019

1938 Bonneville Lock, Dam and Powerhouse on Columbia River

(USACE; Satellite, 222+ photos)

It has two locks and 2.5 fish ladders. But the guide wall of the new lock severely restricts the length of what can use the first lock. The first lock was part of the original 1938 construction. The larger lock was added in 1993 to match the size of the seven other locks on the 465 mile Columbia-Snake River Inland Waterway. A second powerhouse was added in 1981 on the north side. [USACE] The spillway is in the middle.

Satellite

The 1938 lock is not even used for recreational boats. It has been closed. Even the new lock is small by Midwest standards. Specifically, the width is two barges rather than the three-barge width that we have on the Upper Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois rivers.

Bonneville Lock and Dam National Historic Landmark Brochure

Jeffrey Hunt posted

Bonneville 1935

This is an amazing photograph from 1935 — the construction of Bonneville Dam. Just understanding the scale of it for that year is remarkable.

You can see that The Dalles is 45 miles east and Vancouver 45 miles downriver to the west, so Bonneville really sits right in the middle. Camas is less than 30 miles away, with Washougal much closer — close enough to feel connected along the river.

I remember riding through there as a small child, before sunrise, in my dad’s 1949 Chevrolet — cream, with red and black painted fenders — on the way to salmon fishing, sometimes at Hamilton Island or trout fishing up in Gifford Pinchot. I was barely tall enough to see out the window, watching the neon lights of North Bonneville flicker through the early-morning glass while my dad explained what kind of place it was: a resort town with hot springs, spas, dances, and people coming up from Portland for the night. I didn’t really understand it then, but I remember the feeling of it — and his sense of loss, explaining that the town would soon be gone.

You can see part of the old town in the lower right corner of the photo — that main road lined with businesses. It’s all gone now. The entire town was moved when the new dam went in. It’s strange how little has been written about what North Bonneville once looked like. If you have photos or links, please share them in the comments.

My dad, Mahlon Hunt, took pictures up there before they tore it down — I haven’t found them yet, but hopefully they still exist somewhere in the boxes, on old tapes or film.

Aerial photograph by Brubaker Aerial Surveys, 1935. Courtesy Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Mike Kluth shared
1935 Bonneville aerial photo

Screenshot

Downloaded Fact Sheet

Update:

WaterwaysJournal via Advanced-American
[An emergency lock closure on Sep 5, 2019. The sill developed a crack, and it had to be torn out and replaced with a new one. It was expected to reopen Sept. 30, 2019. It actually reopened Sep 27. [opb] ]

Portland District, US Army Corps of Engineers posted

We dug this cool photo up for you – it’s from the construction of Bonneville Dam in 1937.

That means today [Jun 11, 2022], this photo is 85 years old. 

In recognition of the photo’s anniversary, as it were, we want to share the top 3 reasons we heart it so much:

1. So much to look at! The overalls on these men? Exquisite! Check out those hats! And … those cool-cat poses? So slay.

2. Just look at the size of that turbine. That is a - *checks measurements * - ginormous engineering masterpiece. 

3. Our safety office would never let us take a photo like this today – OSHA rules and all, of course. It’s like an entire group simultaneously saying, “Look, ma – no hands! Or hard hats!”

James Torgeson shared
Building the Bonneville Dam between Washington and Oregon on the Columbia River.
Andy Michel posted
The best hydroelectric turbine group photo ever.
Richard Conserriere: Where is OSHA when you don't need them.

Matt Cavalier posted two images with the comment: "The generators atop the turbines inside Bonneville Dam along with a basic diagram of the hydroelectric plant."