For at least four thousand years, the area of Seattle, Washington has been inhabited by man. Today, the city is a boom town to its core, riding one boom of industry after another. As many know, it is the home of grunge music, but go back further and one will discover it was also the birthplace of Jimi Hendrix. Starbucks coffee hails from Seattle, as does Microsoft, and Boeing. The following buildings are some of the city’s most historically significant. They are also 100% Seattle. (more…)
For ages, the area of Boulder, Colorado was an area where the Native Americans preferred to spend their winters. In 1858, just under a decade after the forty-niners went to California, the prospectors showed up in Colorado in search of their fortunes. The “Boulder City Town Company’ was founded soon after, and the city itself was founded in 1871, predating the state of Colorado itself by five years. The mining industry stayed prevalent in Boulder until the middle of the 20th century. Today, Boulder is known especially for its University, as well being the home of the National Institute of Standards and Technology facility that houses the Atomic Clock. It is this clock that serves as the official time for the entire nation of the United States (with adjustments made for time zones, of course). Suffice to say, there are numerous historic sites and buildings in Boulder, Colorado. (more…)
Water. It is one of the most powerful forces on earth, and dams are what we use to harness it… at least temporarily. Water, besides being the foundation for all life on this planet, is also heavily erosive. Every dam ever built will ultimately fall if it is not maintained. And while the argument may go on forever as to whether the benefits of dams outweigh their drawbacks, they are without doubt some of the most awe-inspiring structures known to man. Below are just a few of the largest and also some of the tallest dams ever constructed.
Three Gorges
Three Gorges Dam
Let’s start off with a big one, literally. The Three Gorges Dam in Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei, China is the largest dam and also the largest hydroelectric power station in the world. It spans the Yangtze river. Although structurally complete, the dam is still being brought online, with additional generators currently being installed. Once completed, its thirty-two main generators will reach a full capacity of 22,500 MW. The dam has also been the site of much controversy. By the time of its completion, approximately 1.24 million people were displaced, because of its construction. The dam also flooded numerous cultural and archeological sites, and contributed to the functional extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin, the Baiji. By volume of material, the Three Gorges Dam measures in at 39,300,000,000 cubic meters.
Image via CC bonnie
This is not one of the largest dams in the world, nor is it even one of the tallest (it ranks in at 25th). Yet it is still, without a doubt, one of the best known. This elegant looking dam can be found in Val Verzasca, Switzerland. So why is it so well known?? This is the bridge James Bond dove off of in the film (and video game) “GoldenEye“. Today, all one needs is a few euros to take a bungee jump off of the bridge themselves. The premiere of the 14th season of “The Amazing Race” featured the contestants diving off this bridge.
photo credit: Alex E. Proimos
Arguably the most well known dam in the United States. As with the Verzasca, this dam is also not the biggest nor the tallest. However, when it was first completed in 1936, the Hoover dam was the world’s largest concrete structure, as well as the world’s largest hydroelectric generating station. While keeping in mind that there are now significantly larger dams in the world, if the concrete used to build the Hoover dam were used to create a two lane highway instead, the highway would have reached from New York all the way to San Francisco. Today, the concrete is still curing and therefore growing stronger with each passing year. The dam, obviously named after Herbert Hoover, provides a substantial amount of electricity to many areas of the southwest United States. Recently it was featured in the first Transformers movie.
Nurek Dam image via wikipedia
Located in the country of Tajikistan, this earth fill dam is built across the Vakhsh River. So why is it on this list?? At 300 meters it is currently the tallest dam in the world. The dam was completed in 1980 when Tajikistan was still a part of the Soviet Union. The dam took nineteen years to complete. The dam consists of a concrete core surrounded by rock and earth. As with many dams, this one also generates hydroelectric power.
Rogun Dam Site via Google Earth
The Rogun is an unfinished neighbor of the Nurek. It began construction in 1976, but the project was eventually put in stasis. It’s currently on this list, because if it is ever finished, it could potentially become the tallest dam in the world. The dam’s projected height was 335 meters. As of now, less than 60 meters are all that remain after it was abandoned. However, in early 2007, Russia and Tajikistan announced they would be partnering up to complete the dam. Currently, there are two plans on the table. One has the dam reaching only 280 to 300 meters high, while the other features the original 335 meter potential height. Which one will they choose?? We’ll just have to wait and see.
image via wikipedia
At 235 meters high, this is the tallest dam in the United States. It is located above the city of Oroville in Butte County, California. The dam was completed in 1968 after seven years of construction. The dam was designed with a multitude of purposes in mind including providing a water supply for both drinking and irrigation, flood control, power generation, and creating a better environment for fish and wildlife.
Coming in at 540,000,000 cubic meters by volume of material, the Syncrude Tailings Dam is the second largest in the world. It is located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. The dam is a barrage dam, built for the purpose of storing tailings left over by the ongoing extractions of oil from the Athabasca Oil Sands. The dam was built between the years 1973 and 1978. It officially began operation, along with the mining effort on September 15th, 1978. Hypothetically, the dam could eventually supercede Three Gorges as the dam will continue to increase in size as long as the mining operations continue. It does however have a long, long way to go, so it is considerably unlikely this will ever happen.
At 210,000,000 cubic meters, this dam is less than half the size of the Syncrude Tailings dam, but it is still the largest dam in the United States. As with other tailings dams, this dam was created to store the tailing created by a mine. In this case, the mine in question is the New Cornelia Mine. This mine has been inactive since 1983, but there has been talk of beginning a project to mine the tailings themselves.
Dams are without a doubt modern monoliths and a testament to the capability of mankind’s engineering prowess. And as with anything that exists in the realm of extremes, dams can either create a lot of good or much harm depending on how and where they are built. Responsibility is key when creating these massive structures.
Los Angeles is known for being home to some fairly unusual people; it’s also built upon the back of Hollywood, a very unusual industry. So it goes without saying that Los Angeles has a few unusual buildings. Here are a few that stand out from the crowd. (more…)
Since their inception, holy buildings have aspired to pay tribute to the god or gods their worshippers pay homage to. Modern churches rise into the sky, and in the middle age they were often the tallest buildings their people would ever see. Ancient temples could be built to such magnitudes that even today, thousands of years later, they are still considered wonders of the world. But not all are magnificent due to their architecture; others are just flat-out amazing for their location. A small chapel impossibly built on the side of a cliff may be just as awe-inspiring as a towering cathedral. If there’s one thing holy sites can teach us all, it’s that when the goal is to impress, location can sometimes mean everything. (more…)
It’s one of the most historically significant cities on the west coast of the United States. Arguably, it’s THE most significant. San Francisco, like the United States, got its start in 1776 when the Spanish built a fort to watch over the Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and built a mission dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. A few decades later, with the coming of the 1848 California Gold Rush, rapid growth and expansion would hit the city. Today, San Francisco is home of many historic sites.
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