 |
Transcript for Challenge at Glen Canyon, segment 08 of 11
As the work proceeded on the air slot, Lake Powell began its annual spring rise, upward toward the top of the spillway gates. With forecasts of snowmelt runoff also rising, it began to look like nineteen eighty-four would be another record high water year. The question was, if needed, would at least one of the Glen Canyon spillways be ready in time?
To slow the rise of the lake, the outlet tubes were opened on May fourth.
{{{Background noise}}}
At one time, the inflow into Lake Powell reached one hundred forty-eight thousand cubic feet per second, but the lake slowed its rise and finally stopped two and a half feet from the flashboards. The lake was not to spill in nineteen eighty-four, in spite of the fact that the runoff during nineteen eighty-four was the highest ever recorded on the Colorado River, higher even than nineteen eighty-three. In late spring the work platform was withdrawn, and the completed air slot could be seen against the full dimension of the spillway. The small air slot was deceiving, for the engineering design and construction of the air slots were difficult achievements. The completed spillway was inspected to make sure that all surface imperfections were repaired.
{{{Music}}}