BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

hey desert men in for holiday from their solitude in the sun-baked mason now is on whose ancestral land bridge has been built this is the structure they have come to honey a spectacular steel arch towering 700 feet above the river like a gleaming the people in the wilderness it's the highest and one of the longest structures of its type in the world in its own right and effort the bridge is actually only one element in a greater project now in progress at Glen Canyon just a few hundred feet upstream from the graceful span another structure is being erected that will be one of the engineering wonders of our modern world it's the Glen Canyon Dam which on completion will be the second highest dam in the United States for largest concrete structure in the world and one of the greatest construction projects of the 20th century what you're about to hear is the story of this spectacular undertaking [Music] hello i'm chet huntley the story of winning the great American West has been essentially a story of it's dams for without water controlled and in abundance few of the city's farms industries and recreational facilities which have made the west the Eldorado of our day would have been possible since the passage of the federal reclamation act of nineteen to the Bureau of Reclamation of the United States Department of Interior has been responsible for the erection of more than 150 dams in our western states some of these like Grand Coulee Shasta and Hoover dams are among the world's largest man-made structures our story is about the newest of these colossal river barriers located at Glen Canyon a few miles from the once lonely and little traveled Arizona Utah border the dam at Glen Canyon is the product of more than 35 years of investigation and planning by engineers of the Bureau of Reclamation it'll be the keystone of a network of dams and water storage facilities that will regulate the waters of the upper Colorado River and it's tributaries to provide a dependable year-round source of usable water and hydroelectric power as a construction project Glen Canyon has few if any equals in modern times to help appreciate the enormity of the undertaking here is a scale model showing Glen Canyon at the time of the bridge dedication the dam itself will be a massive structure requiring seven years to construct and calling for over five million cubic yards of concrete it will rise more than seven hundred ten feet above bedrock measure fifteen hundred feet wide at the base it's nine hundred thousand kilowatt power house will have sufficient capacity to supply the domestic NEADS of a city of almost a million people the dam will back up the river for a distance of a hundred and eighty six miles to form one of the world's longest man-made lakes it will store enough water to cover the entire state of Pennsylvania to the depth of one foot the project also includes a complete new community known as Page Arizona with facilities to serve a population of 8,000 persons 108 million dollar prime contract on this stupendous undertaking is the largest single award in the history of the Bureau of Reclamation the successful bidder was the construction department of Merritt Chapman and Scott Corporation the date April 1957 what kind of a place was Glen Canyon how conducive was it to a construction project of this magnitude the site selected was ideal but the remote location posed construction problems seldom encountered space was its principal asset [Music] the sole inhabitants were the Navajos scattered over thousands of square miles of desert still eking out their livelihood in their ancestral manner the first order of business was to open supply lines to the outside world miles of roads were pioneered across the desert to establish contact with the nearest railhead a hundred and thirty five miles away one of the roughest problems was transportation on the job Glen Canyon is only 1200 feet across as the crow flies or a manned cross from one side to the other however required a detour over some of the roughest terrain on the North American continent [Music] one of the first construction jobs was the erection of a spectacular footbridge to permit easy passage back and forth during construction of the steel arch bridge for transporting personnel to the floor of the canyon elevators were installed to shuttle up and down the canyon walls known as monkey slides these open-air cable cars provided a sensation much like that amusement park parachute joke [Music] for moving heavy equipment and loads are giant cableway was erected known as the Highline this courier could twist a 25-ton load from one side to the other in a couple of minutes or lower it to the bottom on either side of the river just as quickly for two years the slender steel strand was to be the only means of transporting heavy loads up down or across the canyon it's impossible to estimate or even imagine hundreds of thousands of tons that were carried thus far we have been talking about preliminaries now let's see the big jobs that had to be done here our scale model has been converted to show the site as it was originally the critical task was to divert the Colorado from its age-old channel so the riverbed could be excavated and the Foundation's poured that called for drilling two giant tunnels to carry the river around the work areas these huge corridors would each be 41 feet in diameter and extend over half a mile through the rock there were also a number of other areas that had to be excavated so work could begin on the mammoth task of placing concrete in the foundation that meant blasting out for the massive key ways that would anchor the dam on both sides of the canyon for the cavernous spillway tunnels that would be used to control floodwaters and carry excess waters around the dam and for a two mile via cuter access tunnel from the summit to the canyon floor it would help during construction and will be the supply line to the powerhouse in years to come in all more than four and a half million cubic yards of rock would have to be removed before the first bucket of concrete could be placed in the foundation of the dam what about the time element how long did the contractor have to complete this mammoth earthmoving operation the river was the boss it set the deadline for much of the year the Colorado is a sultry sluggish slow-moving puree of mud and silt but when the spring comes in the mountains hundreds of miles upstream begin to disgorge their yearly harvest of melting snows then a monster is born [Music] the Colorado becomes a raging giant but on occasion has reached a velocity of a hundred and ninety thousand cubic feet of water per second any attempt to move the river must be made before the spring runoff begins as construction began a goal was set diversion would take place in February of 1959 that would be precisely 22 months after the awarding of the prime contract less than two years to complete one of the greatest blasting and tunneling operations of the 20th century [Music] with that deadline every phase of the operation had to follow a rigid schedule drilling machines working in the tunnels were committed to a specified rate of forward progress each de villiers working in the key ways and other exposed areas also has their floaters they averaged some 50 feet per hour that's a lot of ground when you're working with three and a quarter inch pits and each must be driven up to 16 feet deep into the rock in the final analysis machines were the decisive factor in determining whether the schedule could be maintained and the deadlines met Glen Canyon featured one of the largest fleets of motorized equipment ever assembled for a single peacetime construction project each operation had its own supply problem each depended in some way on some piece of motorized equipment doing a specific job at an appointed time and place the blasting crews relied on the explosive trucks keeping them supplied with blasting powder as needed as the drilling was completed in each new area the trucks had to be there with the explosives to splinter one more section of the mighty balls the most critical hauling problem was the removal of excavated materials the assignment of handling this enormous volume of material was entrusted to a fleet of rugged diesel pave haulers for 22 months they were johnny-on-the-spot with each new blast ready to start removing the debris 24 tons at a time almost before the dust had cleared they moved like clockwork even on graves in excess of 20% an average of almost 10,000 cubic yards of rock that's about 20,000 tons was displaced daily and had to be removed promptly from 8 different locations on both sides of the canyon timing was all-important to avoid confusion in congestion and to maintain an orderly flow of excavated materials to other crews waiting to use them nothing was wasted at length and every bit of splintered Rock and muck was utilized wherever the pay haulers went there you were sure to find the crawlers ready to move in and level the load as soon as it hit the ground [Music] as work progressed in the diversion tunnels another hauling problem was born concrete for lining the tunnels had to be delivered from a temporary batch plant to the High Line for lowering to the bottom this was a job for the heavy-duty transports the trucks had to synchronize their movements to the schedule of the High Line each time the cableway brought up an empty bucket out of the hole a truck had to be there with a full ready to go back down [Music] the moment the truck was clear back it went for a refill here you see the magic of Blendtec even the commonplace a simple concrete bucket becomes poetry emotion against the backdrop of the desert sky [Music] one of the most remarkable features at Glen Canyon is it's amazing organization for the field maintenance of its huge motorized fleet special duty units are on the goal from morning to night there are fuel trucks grease trucks fire trucks plus a large contingent of radio equipped pickup trucks or supervisory personnel and Troubleshooters in January of 1959 a dramatic milestone was achieved the diversion tunnels were ready to move the Colorado from the channel it had occupied through the ages this was the big push like an army carefully wheeling its forces into position the contractor began moving equipment for the all-out offensive against the river every available piece of earth-moving machinery was dispatched to the floor of the canyon for the mammoth task both the bridge and the access tunnel were ready to assume some of the burden of moving equipment however the steel cable way still proved the fastest and most direct route to the bottom it was simple just hook him up and take him away [Music] after all it kept busy lowering a steady procession of equipment the first objective was to remove the levees at the entrance to the Westside diversion tunnel so the water could flow freely into the concrete-lined corridor the pay haulers that had supplied the fill for the embankments were now recruited to come in and help remove another levee had been built downstream at the tunnel exit it too had to be removed so the water could flow freely after diversion a rhythm was established like well-trained officers a huge buckets of the dragline dipped into the river so many times each hour each time coming up with their quota of dripping mud time was becoming a factor there were reports of early falls in the north any day now the Colorado could explode into its annual spring match so men and machines function with relentless production line precision so many pockets to the load so many loads to the hour [Music] there was no letter even at sundown men and machines worked around the clock to open the new channel for the river finally the job was done the tunnel was clear the moment all hands had been shooting for for 22 months was here [Music] now to complete the diversion the temporary diversion dams must be closed to seal off the river completely it looks so simple a few well-placed loads of rock and Earth's should do it but the river has a will of its own after thousands of years it doesn't give up that easy there are 24 tons of fill in that load how effective will it be in arresting the flow of the river see for yourself in a few seconds it's all gone vanished as completely as a few grains of sugar in a boiling tea kettle so a hurry up call is placed for pay on in large holders bigger the better some of these rocks weigh upwards of 10 tons what can they do to arrest the fury of the stream not very much they too are pissed away like so many grains of sand down a drain well gentlemen now what do we do next large steel forms are eased into the stream in the hope that they can break the force of the current and serve as an anchor for the field within the hour the rugged forms are twisted completely out of shape and tossed to one side as the river continues ruthlessly on its turbulent way each of these moves takes time and with each passing hour the velocity of the river increases in another few days the Colorado will be completely unmanageable finally an enormous steel frame the width of the channel is hurriedly fabricated while it's being assembled the whole fleet of pay haulers and crawlers is put to work moving up mountains afield for a final all-out everything [Music] the huge form is wheeled into position [Music] inch by inch the giant frame is eased into the angry water like a skillful fisherman manipulating his line as it settles into place beneath the surface of the water the caller is going to action power after all hundreds of tons of rock and fill are lured into the stream the objective is to overpower of the river and it works by morning the Colorado has been turned from its age-old path after days of tireless effort the men and their machines of finally triumph for the first time in history it is now possible to walk from one side of planned Canyon to the other without getting your feet wet many other things were accomplished during that 22 month period the town of Page has become a reality the desert has blossomed into a community of fine modern homes and paved streets there's a swimming pool - there's a fully staffed grade school that will soon be augmented by a large modern high school a 25-bed hospital has been erected and is the largest and most complete medical facilities within a hundred mile radius and there are new churches for each of the denominations represented in pages eight thousand inhabitants [Music] in addition facilities have been installed to supply the 5 million cubic yards of concrete that will be required for the dam they include a fully automated mixing plant with a capacity of almost 480 cubic yards per hour the largest facility of its type ever built and the world's largest refrigeration plant it enables concrete to be placed at the specified temperature of 50 degrees even in the 110 degrees summer desert heat there are also two new traveling Tower cable waves each with 50 ton capacity they are capable of placing 96 tons of concrete every five and 1/2 minutes they're so accurate that the operator can drop a bucket on a dime on the floor of the canyon from the control tower 800 feet above thus ended act 1 in the drama of Glen Canyon [Music] artoo begins in a holiday atmosphere anata those come in to mingle with a construction workers and tourists to mark the milestone the first bucket is ready for the foundation it carries 12 cubic yards of concrete ultimately enough will have been placed to pave a four-lane highway from Phoenix Arizona to Chicago [Music] now a new army of workers takes over to handle the most dramatic phase the placing of the concrete nearly three years will be required to pour the mountains of concrete needed for the massive structure higher than a 70 storey building again a rhythm is a step [Music] leisa [Music] and return a bucket to start a new site for every five and a half minutes they'll drop [Music] don't and returnable night and day for three long years so now a new structure starts to rise and like the bridge this great dam will be a bridge to the future in the development of the upper Colorado River [Music] 35 years of planning two years to complete the excavation and divert the river three years to pour the concrete another five years to fill the Great Lake what are the benefits that will accrue to the region and the nation from this monumental expenditure of time energy and money for one thing with the upper Colorado under control it'll be possible to build irrigation projects to bring enriched and diversified farm production to the upper basin the availability of vast hydroelectric power will lead to the establishment of new communities and industries and cities will follow the development of great urban areas is inevitable because all of the requisites for good modern living will be present in abundance in addition Glen Canyon Dam and the 186 mile lake powell which it will create will certainly become one of the West's great scenic attractions already more than a half million Americans visit the site each year to marvel at the impressive structure rising in the desert and this number will certainly multiply as scenic areas are opened by the new waterway these are no idle dreams they are fast becoming realities here as similar miracles have occurred elsewhere in the West's new economic horizons will emerge because men of imagination have planned it so and because they have the courage and the perseverance and the machines to do the job the combination of men and machines has always been an irresistible force for progress the new world that's being born at Glen Canyon is one more example of that and it will be an enduring monument to fine Americans who buildings [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]