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Concept
Ross Dam
Summary
Ross Dam is a -high, -long concrete thin arch dam across the Skagit River, forming Ross Lake. The dam is in Washington state, while Ross Lake extends north to British Columbia, Canada. Both dam and reservoir are located in Ross Lake National Recreation Area, is bordered on both sides by Stephen Mather Wilderness and combined with Lake Chelan National Recreation Area they make up North Cascades National Park Complex.
Built as part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project by Seattle City Light, the dam is part of a series of three dams through the Skagit Gorge that were built primarily to generate hydroelectricity from the massive elevation drop of over from the Canada-U.S. border to Newhalem. The other two dams are Diablo Dam, directly below Ross Dam, and Gorge Dam, further downstream. Ross Dam can generate up to 460 MW of electricity.
Prior to construction of the dam the Skagit Gorge upstream of the dam was a wild, free flowing, completely undeveloped area. The canyon held an intact ancient forest of Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and Western Redcedar, estimated to be millable into up to 340 million usable board feet of timber. With the creation of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project in the 1910s, the first two dams, Gorge Dam and Diablo Dam, were constructed downstream of the Ross Dam site. In 1937, construction began on the dam, originally slated to be called Ruby Dam, on the first two of four planned construction phases. The name originates from Ruby Creek, a Skagit River tributary that flows southwest to meet the Skagit just upstream of the dam site. By 1940, phases 1 and 2 of the dam were complete, and the dam stood above the river. While the reservoir filled, the Decco-Walton Logging Company was formed in 1945 with the awarding of a contract from Seattle City Light. Decco-Walton logged the Skagit Gorge as Ross Lake slowly rose, and floated logs up the river to British Columbia, where it was hauled to the Fraser River. By the time Ross Lake filled, only 30 million board feet remained in the basin, less than 10% of the original timber.
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