Glines Canyon Dam, also known as Upper Elwha Dam,[3] was a 210-foot (64 m) tall concrete arch dam that impounded Lake Mills reservoir on the Elwha River in Clallam County, Washington. As of 2015[update], it is the tallest dam ever to be intentionally breached.
| Glines Canyon Dam | |
|---|---|
 Glines Canyon Dam | |
  Location of Glines Canyon Dam in Washington (state)  Glines Canyon Dam (the United States) | |
| Location | On Elwha River, along Olympic Hot Springs Road, about 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Port Angeles, in Olympic National Park, Clallam County, Washington, USA |
| Coordinates | 48°00′07″N 123°36′00″W / 48.00203°N 123.59991°W |
| Construction began | 1925 |
| Opening date | 1927 |
| Demolition date | 2014 |
| Built by | Thebo, Starr, & Anderson Inc. |
| Designed by | P.M. Thebo; W.B. McMillan; W.A. Whitmire; H.R. Stevens; H. Schorer |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Elwha River |
| Height | 210 ft (64 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Mills |
| Total capacity | 40,500 acre⋅ft (50,000,000 m3) |
| Surface area | 415 acres (168 ha) |
| Power Station | |
| Installed capacity | 13.3 MW[1] |
Glines Canyon Hydroelectric Power Plant | |
| Area | 7 acres (2.8 ha) |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| MPS | Hydroelectric Power Plants in Washington State, 1890--1938 MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 88002742[2] |
| Added to NRHP | December 15, 1988 |
Built in 1927, Glines Canyon Dam was located 13 miles (21 km) upriver from the mouth of the Elwha River at the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and about 8 miles (13 km) upriver from Elwha Dam. Both dams lay within Olympic National Park, established in 1938. The National Park Service demolished Glines Canyon Dam in 2014 as part of the restoration of the Elwha River (Elwha Dam was demolished in 2011–2012). The project was the largest dam removal in history until the restoration of the lower Klamath River in the 2020s.
History
editThe dam was built privately to generate electricity for industries and major military installations on the Olympic Peninsula, including lumber and paper mills in Port Angeles.
The Glines Canyon Hydroelectric Power Plant historic district, a 7 acres (2.8 ha) area comprising the dam, the powerhouse, and the water conveying system, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.[4]
Effects of dam on river habitat and area ecology
editLacking passage for migrating salmon, Glines Canyon Dam blocked access by anadromous salmonids[5] to the upper 38 miles (61 km) of mainstem habitat and more than 30 miles (48 km) of tributary habitat. The Elwha River watershed once supported salmon runs of more than 400,000 adult returns on more than 70 miles (110 km) of river habitat. By the early 21st-century, fewer than 4,000 adult salmon returned each year.
Habitat restoration
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Numerous groups lobbied Congress to remove the two dams on the river and restore the habitat of the river and its valley. The Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act of 1992 authorized the US Federal Government to acquire the Elwha Dam and Glines Canyon Dam hydroelectric power projects for decommissioning and demolition for habitat restoration.
The Elwha Ecosystem Restoration project started in September 2011 as work to demolish the nearby Elwha Dam began downstream. The final piece of the Glines Canyon Dam was removed August 26, 2014.[6] Now that the dam has been removed, the area that was under Lake Mills is being revegetated and its banks secured to prevent erosion and to speed up ecological restoration.
Gallery
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Glines Canyon Dam (removed) from above, Oct 2014 -
Glines Canyon Dam (removed) from inside reservoir, Oct 2014
_from_above,_Oct_2014.JPG)
_from_inside_reservoir,_Oct_2014.JPG)
See also
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References
edit- ^ "Restoring Rivers: Major upcoming dam removals in the Pacific Northwest" (PDF). www.water.ca.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Upper Elwha Dam
- ^ "National Register of Historical Places record for Glines Canyon Hydroelectric Power Plant". Archived from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2017. and accompanying pictures
- ^ Grossman 2002, p. 155
- ^ "Olympic park's Elwha River freed after last dam blasted out". August 27, 2014. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
Sources
edit- Grossman, Elizabeth (2002). Watershed: The Undamming of America. Basic Books. ISBN 1-58243-108-6..
- Mapes, Lynda V. (2016). "Elway: Roaring Back to Life Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine," The Seattle Times.
External links
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- Glines Canyon Dam Removal Process Archived June 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine - animation
- Glines Canyon Dam webcam and time lapse movie of removal project Archived June 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- "Demolition dam: Why dismantle a huge river barrier?" Archived April 29, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, BBC video
- Elwha River Restoration Archived September 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, National Park Service
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. WA-130-B, "Elwha River Hydroelectric System, Glines Hydroelectric Dam and Plant, Port Angeles, Clallam County, WA", 25 photos, 6 measured drawings, 3 photo caption pages
- Mapes, Lynda V. (February 13, 2016), "Elwha: Roaring back to life", The Seattle Times, archived from the original on March 5, 2016, retrieved February 28, 2016