The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920s between two groups. One group wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal while the other pursued a high dam and pumping scheme. Congress approved the high dam in 1935 and it was completed in 1942.

Dams also change the character of rivers, creating slow-moving, warm water pools that are ideal for predators of salmon. Low water velocities in large reservoirs also can delay salmon migration and expose fish to high water temperatures and disease. Many things have been done to reduce the impacts of dams on fish.

The decision to build the massive Grand Coulee Dam was not made casually. The controversy revolved around the location, design, and ultimate purpose of such a structure, not over its impacts upon humans and the natural environment.

Other impacts damaged the salmon runs, including the construction of new dams downstream, construction of irrigation systems on tributaries, diseases at the hatcheries, overfishing and pollution.

Constructed between 1933 and 1942, the Grand Coulee Dam was a major source of economic stimulus during the Great Depression. Construction of the dam provided roughly 8,800 jobs, and resulted in a large economic boom in neighboring towns.

There were 77 men killed during the construction of the dam from 1933 to 1941. An additional four men were killed during the construction of the Nathaniel Washington Power Plant and Forebay Dam from 1967 to 1975. Are there workers buried in the Grand Coulee Dam? No one is buried in the dam.

Nurek Dam

Tehri Dam

Hirakud

Several reasons. Infant mortality was much higher. So having more babies with more wives insured that you had surviving heirs. Having more wives was looked upon as a sign that you were wealthy and manly – you could afford to have a large family, and “take care” of many women.

King Solomon

America’s largest family, the Bates, on miracle 19th child who survived after failing to breathe on his own at birth. Gil and Kelly Bates of Lake City, Tennessee, have spoken in detail about the complications that came with the birth of their 19th child Jeb Colton Bates.