Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower producer in North America, generating more than 21 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. At 5,223 feet long, just shy of a mile, Grand Coulee was hailed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" when it was completed in 1941. Grand Coulee is listed by the American Society of Civil Engineers as one of the seven civil engineering wonders of the United States.

An escorted tour places their hands on the exterior of massive main unit to feel the vibration. Hardhats, long pants, safety goggles and ear protection are required for anyone who enters the dam's interior.

One of several main unit turbines at Grand Coulee Dam. Massive turbines are what makes the dam the largest hydropower producer in the United States, generating an astonishing 21-billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.

The power plants, switchyards and a pump-generating plants of Grand Coulee Dam require the use of sophisticated electrical equipment and highly trained engineers to operate it.

Power from Grand Coulee Dam is supplied to Canada and eight western states…Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, as well as parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

Workers at Grand Coulee Dam navigate 14 miles of gallery tunnels within the dam. To reach their workstations expeditiously, many employees rely on bicycles as transportation. Here, an engineer awaits an elevator to transport herself and her bike to an another level of the dam.

The Grand Coulee Dam had severe negative consequences for local Native American tribes whose traditional way of life revolved around salmon. Because it lacks a fish ladder, Grand Coulee permanently blocks fish migration, removing over 1,100 miles of natural spawning habitat. “Supersalmon" are known to regularly weigh over 80 pounds. However today, as a result of the Grand Coulee and other dams, the largest Chinook salmon caught on the Columbia River are not even half that size. The extinction of the spawning grounds upstream from the dam has prevented Native people from holding sacred salmon ceremonies since 1940.