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}} The Pensacola Dam, also known as the Grand River Dam, is a multiple-arch buttress dam on the Grand River in-between Disney and Langley in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The dam is operated by the Grand River Dam Authority and creates Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. After decades of vision and planning, it was constructed between 1938 and 1940 for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, flood control and recreation. It is Oklahoma's first hydroelectric power plant and is referred to as the longest multiple-arch dam in the world.〔〔〔 ==Background== The idea to construct a dam on the Grand River originated in the late 1800s with Henry C. Holderman, a Cherokee Nation citizen, who wanted to provide electric power to the Cherokee Nation. Holderman and a few colleagues soon conducted the first survey of the river in 1895 on their own handmade houseboat. Holderman later left the United States at the age of 16 and worked on dam projects in India and Africa before returning to Oklahoma. He sold his land holdings and borrowed money from friends in order to purchase rights to the dam sites he had prospected.〔 Over several decades, Holderman and a group known as the "Rainbow Chasers" tried to secure funding to construct the a dam; making several trips to Washington DC.〔 The dam was almost built in 1914 by British capitalists but plans were halted due to World War I. In 1920, Holderman refused an offer given by Chicago businessmen and in 1929, the Wall Street Crash ended the hopes of Canadian engineers and investors building the dam for Holderman. In DC, supporters of the dam, which later included state and federal officials, argued for the dam as a source of hydroelectric power and that it could stimulate the state's economy but local energy providers opposed the possibility of a state-run electric utility. The onset of the Great Depression would revive and accelerate plans to construct the dam. Just prior in 1928, Oklahoma Representative Everette B. Howard secured $5,000 in funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to survey the Grand River. The results of the study concluded that it would cost over $6.2 million to construct a dam at the "Pensacola site" for flood control.〔 The name "Pensacola" was derived from the only available means of identifying the site at the time: an old store on a Cherokee plantation.〔 Because of limited state funding and a limited water supply on the Grand River, the project was not proposed at first for federal funding under the scope of hydroelectric power but instead for flood control. Oklahoma set up the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) on January 10, 1935. Eventually, on September 18, 1937, with the help of Oklahoma Representative Wesley E. Disney, Senator Elmer Thomas and engineer W. R. Holway, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved $20 million in funding through the New Deal's Public Works Administration for the dam. The higher cost for the dam was attributed to a project that was approved for additional purposes, including hydroelectric power generation and recreation.〔 Additional costs for the dam were covered by the state government and by GRDA municipal bond auctions which appropriated or raised $11 million.〔 Disney had pushed much of the legislation for the dam, comparing the higher electric utility rates in Oklahoma compared to other states.〔 Senator Thomas helped appropriate additional state and public funding for the dam while also being instrumental in its legislation.〔 Once approved and funded, Holway, the main engineer on the project and previous engineer of the nearby Spavinaw Dam, began survey and engineering work on October 25, 1937. The multiple-arch buttress design was adopted because materials were expensive at the time of the Great Depression and the limestone and chert foundation was considered "ideal" for the design.〔〔 John Duncan Forsyth served as the architect for the dam and applied an Art Deco-style to it and the power house. Massman Construction Company out of Kansas City, Missouri was selected to construct the major superstructures, including the dam and power plant. Thousands of workers moved to the area to work on the dam before construction began and 3,000 eventually did, earning about $16 a week.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pensacola Dam」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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