Grand Coulee Dam 1x83

When the Grand Coulee Dam was being built during the depths of the Great Depression, everything about it—the generators, the powerhouses, the pumps, the turbines, the conveyor belts, the cofferdams, not to mention the concentration of brothels and bars—was the biggest in the world. Grand Coulee was more than a dam; it was a proclamation that America could still do great things. This film tells the epic story of one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable construction projects. Featuring people who lived and worked at Grand Coulee, along with historians and engineers, the program tells how a far-fetched irrigation scheme became a hallmark of the New Deal, a crucial weapon in World War II, and the linchpin in the remaking of the Pacific Northwest.

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