This video has some excellent shots of the construction of Glen Canyon Dam. It’s part 2 of a 5-part series by Gary Ladd in what looks like a lecture at NAU. I put all 5 parts on a new video page. Click the Videos tab above to get there, or just click HERE.
Enjoy… Mike
I’m not sure what the occasion was that prompted this picture, but there are a lot of faces in here that many of you will recognize. The back side of this photo has the names written out. I’m including that as the second photo below instead of typing the names. I just thought that was a better way to go. The handwriting might be a little hard to read on some of them, but you’ll figure it out I’m sure.
Here’s the back of the photo with the handwritten names:
Enjoy!
-Mike
This is a great shot of a temporary trailer park at the Glen Canyon Dam construction site. I don’t have any information about when it was built, why, or how long it was there. I do know it was temporary because it sits on part of the spot where the conveyor belts for delivering the aggregate to the batch plant were eventually built. They would have been just to the right of this picture, and probably would have extended into the picture a little.
It’s a good look at the Beehive from the north. It doesn’t look like the canyon side of the Beehive has been removed yet, but it’s hard to tell. The bridge isn’t there yet, but construction is underway. On the left side of the picture, you can see the top of the left spillway. Also, along the highway, that large building that was used as some kind of laydown yard is framed, but not finished yet. If you zoom in, you can see the water tower in town. It’s also a good shot of LeChee. The buildings on the left side of Manson Mesa may be the corals and drive-in theater.
Ok, back to the trailer park. Does anyone know what the white buildings were? I’d give good money for the Willy’s jeep. The boat without a trailer is classy. Enjoy!
-Mike
This photo is undated, but I think it must be 1957ish. The handwritten caption on the back reads,
“In bottom of canyon upstream from bridge. Concrete form for diversion tunnel shown here. To the bottom left is tunnel (mile plus long) which will connect the power house to top of canyon wall and to Page.”
There are a couple of things that need pointed out on this photo. The writing I cited above mentions a diversion tunnel and a tunnel that goes to the top of the canyon wall. Those are two different things. The opening mentioned on the left of the picture is the bottom of the tunnel that runs from there to the top of the canyon and comes out behind the old Country Club an golf course. That tunnel is still in use. The lower opening to the tunnel that you see in this picture is now on the downstream side of the dam and comes out near the power house. The next time you’re there, look down and you’ll see it. It’s interesting that the back caption says this tunnel WILL connect the top to the bottom, as it was still under construction at the time of this photo.
The concrete form mentioned in the picture is the round object on the right. There were two diversion tunnels that re-directed the Colorado River water around the dam site during construction. In future posts, I’ll be sharing some pictures with you of construction inside those diversion tunnels, as well as the upper spillways which connected to the diversion tunnels.
Notice the roadway in the center of the bridge and the road protruding out from the canyon on the right side. The present-day visitor’s center is located on the right side of this picture by the road. Also notice the netting that hung off the bottom of the bridge to catch falling workers and material. The cables that spanned the canyon are clearly visible and it looks like there is another roadway support being set at the time of this photo. This view is long gone!
-Mike
These are great shots of some unidentified workers in random tunnels in the rock around Glen Canyon Dam. The captions below the pictures tell you what was written or stamped on the back. I don’t know what these tunnels were used for, or if they’re still there. Enjoy!
-Mike
I have to confess, I spent a lot of time pouring over this top picture and then I had this brilliant idea to grab a current day photo and compare. Yes, I have moments of brilliance. But they’re short lived.
This post has two photos. The one above was then and the bottom one is now. The top picture was taken before time began. That’s an exaggeration, but it’s not too far off. It’s a high altitude photo of the Colorado River at the Glen Canyon Dam site. There is nothing there but a muddy river. The soon-to-be city of Page is outlined in the dotted area. Wahweap creek is visible (and empty) at the bottom right. The beehive is plainly visible, but this was clearly taken before any work on Glen Canyon Dam or the city of Page had begun.
When you’re done with the top photo, look at the “now” picture below for comparison. I want to thank Dugan Warner for supplying the top photo to me so I could share it with you. Enjoy!
-Mike
The building of Glen Canyon Dam and Bridge wasn’t accomplished without great personal loss by some. I’m posting two photos this time because they are closely tied to one another. The handwritten caption on the back reads,
“Lower end of diversion tunnel and adit for powerhouse tunnel road. Right above the adit is where the man got killed Aug 11th. Rock ledge 200 feet above adit broke off. Small footbridge across river is at lower left.”
You can clearly see the lower opening to the powerhouse tunnel mentioned in the picture. It’s located at the base of the dam, next to the powerhouse. The lower footbridge mentioned in the caption and visible in the photo was at the approximate location of the powerhouse. My next post will be a better look at that lower footbridge. The powerhouse tunnel runs along the inside of the canyon wall from behind the old Country Club/golf course on top, to this point below. It’s still in use. The adits mentioned in the caption are the smaller horizontal tunnels that intersect the main tunnel at 90 degrees at regular intervals, primarily for ventilation. If you scroll back up to the picture, you’ll see the adit that is mentioned in the caption.
The photo was taken or cataloged one day short of a month following a fatality at this location that occurred on 8/11/1958. The photo caption mentions that a rock ledge broke off above the adit and killed a man. According to the memorial plaque below, the individual’s name was Austin Merritt. He joins 17 others who lost their lives in the Glen Canyon Dam project. All of them are listed here:
The above memorial plaque was created by WMPearl in 2011 and is posted on Wikimedia Commons. I don’t know where it physically resides. Click [HERE] to view the source website at Wikimedia.
In the early 1970’s, one of my friends told me that her father was killed during the building of the dam. His name is listed at the top of the middle column, Raymond D White.
UPDATE 5/24/17: Here’s a list of memorials of the names on the plaque compiled by Donna Bloxton Petersen. Thank you Donna for all the time and work you put into this!
- Aug 24, 1957 – ROBERT CHAPMAN FRAZIER (41) (Military Portrait)
- Sep 09, 1957 – BUFORD L. PERSINGER (31)
- Sep 17, 1957 – LELAND FLOYD HARPER (40)
- Mar 21, 1958 – VINCENT SCHAFFER (38)
- Aug 11, 1958 – AUSTIN ENOS MERRITT (25)
- Feb 16, 1959 – VANCE EDWARD McNUTT (40)
- Mar 17, 1960 – RAYMOND DEE WHITE (37)
- July 19, 1960 – JERRY M. CRAWFORD (26)
- Dec 01, 1960 – WILLIAM K. “TURNER” COMBS (45)
- Dec 13, 1960 – ROBERT SIERRA GONZALES (46)
- Jun 08, 1961 – BERTRAM C. MARTIN (53)
- July 25, 1961 – ARDIS CALVIN “BLUE” KING (34)
- July 25, 1961 – KEITH CARROLL WALKER (19)
- Sep 07, 1962 – PABLO ALVARDO VALENZUELA (50)
- Jun 27, 1963 – ERVIN B. DONIHOO (50)
- Aug 18, 1963 – LARRY G. KOWALSKI (25)
- Aug 30, 1963 – MAUGHAN A. CROFTS (40)
- Oct 19, 1965 – COY O. HALL (50-51)
-Mike
This photo had some water damage, so I’m glad I was able to scan it. It’s dated 7/21/1958 and the handwritten description on the back reads, “Tower for cableway under construction.” This was one of three towers on this side of the canyon that rode on railways. This one may have been in a fixed position. I don’t remember for sure. There were three more on the Page side of the canyon. Cables spanned the canyon from these towers and were used to dump concrete, move material, and transport workers into and out of the canyon.
This one is shown on what is today, the upper parking lot of the Visitor’s Center. The Visitor Center itself would eventually be built to the left of this picture.
-Mike
Here’s a shot looking down on the conveyor belts that transported the gravel underground to the batch plant. It’s dated 9/15/1958. There is a hand-written caption on the back that reads, “Concrete batching plant and concrete aggregate piles. Aggregate goes to tunnel and conveyor belt below piles and took to top of plant.” If you enlarge this and look close, you’ll see a gravel truck approaching what I believe is the dump hopper.
On the right side of the photo near the top, you can see where the canyon wall has been excavated in preparation for the dam. You can also see the spillway cut out on the far side of the canyon. You can also see the anchor point for the bridge arch on the Page side. Just to the right of this picture is the present day Visitor’s Center.
You can also see the footbridge and its shadow being cast down the canyon wall near the center of the picture.
-Mike
