Glen Canyon Dam

(Under Construction)

HERB RINGER made so many trips to the desert Southwest, he could barely count them all. From 1956 to 1963, Glen canyon Dam was under construction on the Utah/Arizona border.
Herb checked in from time to time to monitor the progress…

Before construction on the dam itself could begin,  a coffer dam had to be built upstream from the site and diversion tunnels built around it. The work took a couple years. This photograph, from 1959, was taken from the new bridge that was also required to connect the two sides of the project.  Note the cables traversing the canyon–materials were moved back and forth in this fashion. At the very bottom of the picture is the coffer dam.

The new dam starts to take shape. By 1961, the bottom sections of the dam had been poured and the project moved quickly, despite a strike in 1961. By January 1963, the dam had been constructed to a sufficient height to close the diversion gates and to stop the river’s flow.
On March 13, 1963, the Colorado River ceased to flow in Glen Canyon.
Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of this most tragic event.

HERB RINGER came West from his home in New Jersey in 1939. Camera in hand, Herb captured the American West, from the Canadian Border to the Rio Grande and from the Big Sur coast to the High Plains.
We believe Herb’s collection of Life in the West is one of the finest. His work has been published in The Zephyr for 20 years. I am pleased finally, to offer Herb’s photographs in color. We are also building a new ‘album’ of his work, elsewhere on this site.
My dear friend died on December 11, 1998…JS

To read the PDF version of this article, click here.

Don’t forget our loyal Backbone members!