Glen Canyon Dam

1956

A button pressed in Washington set off the first blast

On October 15, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower pressed a button on his desk in Washington, D.C. The telegraph signal set off the first blast of dynamite at the portal of the right diversion tunnel. The Bureau of Reclamation built the 710-foot-high dam from 1956 to 1966.

710feet high, the dam that forms Lake Powell

A bridge first

Before the dam, a chicken-wire footbridge was the only way across

In the early days the only way across Glen Canyon was a suspension footbridge of chicken wire and metal grates, and vehicles had to drive 225 miles to reach the other side. A steel arch bridge was finished on August 11, 1957. At 1,271 feet long and 700 feet above the river, it was the highest bridge of its kind in the United States.

Page

A company town was built for the crew, and it became Page

The Bureau of Reclamation planned a company town to house the workers. It became Page, Arizona, named for the former Reclamation Commissioner John C. Page. By 1959 it had temporary buildings, electricity and a small school. It was meant for at most eight thousand people, and the peak workforce would eventually pass 2,500.

1963 to 1966

Topped out in 1963, dedicated in 1966

The dam was topped out on September 13, 1963. The first electricity was generated on September 4, 1964, and sent as far as Phoenix, Arizona and Farmington, New Mexico. On September 22, 1966, Lady Bird Johnson gave the official dedication speech before a crowd of 3,000 people.

The argument

It is still argued over: a drought buffer, or a canyon lost

Glen Canyon Dam flooded the scenic Glen Canyon, and it was one of the last dams of its size built in the United States. Environmental groups continue to call for its removal. Water managers and utilities say it is a major source of renewable energy and a buffer against severe drought.