Birth of the dams

Photo courtesy of the Franklin County Historical Society

Ice Harbor's powerhouse intake was reinforced with steel. In all, more than 35 million pounds of steel and 600,000 cubic yards of concrete were used in the dam's construction.

Ice Harbor Lock and Dam

Project

• Date in service: December 1961
• Counties: Franklin and Walla Walla
• River mile: 9.7
• Owner: Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District
• Authorized purposes: Power generation and inland navigation
• Other uses: Fishery and recreation
• Type of project: Run-of-river

Reservoir

• Name: Sacajawea
• Normal operating elevation range at dam: 437 to 440 feet above mean sea level
• Length: 31.9 miles
• Average width: 0.4 miles
• Maximum width: 1.0 miles
• Surface area at elevation 440: 8,375 acres
• Storage between elevation 437 and 440: 24,900 acre-feet

Dam

• Powerhouse, overall length: 671 feet
• Navigation lock, overall width: 173 feet
• Total length of dam: 2,822 feet
• Maximum height of concrete sections: 213 feet

Spillway

• Number of bays: 10
• Overall length: 590 feet
• Peak discharge: 850,000 cubic feet per second

Powerhouse

• Number of generating units: 6
• Turbines: Kaplan, 6-blade
• Generator ratings: Units 1 through 3, 90,000 kilowatts; Units 4 through 6, 111,000 kilowatts
• Units installed complete initially: 3
• Skeleton units provided initially: 3
• Total units now installed: 6
• Plant capacity: 603,000 kilowatts

Navigation lock and channels

• Lock chamber length: 675 feet
• Lock chamber width: 86 feet
• Upstream gate height: 25 feet
• Downstream gate height: 91 feet
• Normal fill time: 11 minutes
• Normal emptying time: 14 minutes

Fish facilities

• Two fish ladders, powerhouse collection system and downstream migrants bypass system

- Army Corps of Engineers