As the dam rose skyward, the number of men working on it fell. Fewer cement men were needed to manage its tapering top, and the northern powerhouse was not a time-sensitive project. It would take almost a decade and a half for the reservoir to reach capacity and provide a high enough water table to power those generators. The layoffs came thick and fast in 1984 and 1985, but slowed afterward as the first generators began to be installed in the southern powerhouse.
Just as dam work began to slow, global oil prices plummeted as a result of Saudi Arabia slashing prices. This virtually halted new exploration on Alaska’s North Slope, reducing demand for services in Fairbanks still further. During the boom times of the pipeline and dam, the city had become overbuilt, and retailers that had relied on free-spending workers relaxing after time in construction camps suddenly faced hard times. Development plans were put on hold, then abandoned altogether. More than a few homeowners simply left their keys at the bank that held their mortgage before catching a flight out of town. So many cars were abandoned at the airport that the city was unable to find buyers for them at auction.
Adding to the problem was an influx of displaced Alaska Bush village residents. More than 1,500 people were displaced by Lake Kennedy’s rising waters, and most made their way to Fairbanks. Many lived a subsistence lifestyle, catching or growing their food, and the Western way of life was foreign to them. Holding down a regular job was a new experience, and even if they had lived in a village and were familiar with town life, their family connections were broken and they had to start over again. More than a few turned to drinking, their only income coming from interest checks provided by all Alaska Native corporations to their respective groups and tribes.
Further intensifying the village flight was the increased cost of life in the villages. Construction of the dam interrupted barge traffic to most river communities in east-central Alaska, and flying in items became the main source of supply for many of these villages. The resulting increased costs drove more than a few families to Fairbanks or Anchorage in search of stable work. Making matters worse was the wildlife shortage upstream of the dam. As Lake Kennedy inundated the Yukon Flats, the moose, waterfowl and fur-bearing animal population similarly plummeted. These factors crippled subsistence life in east-central Alaska and caused more than a few complaints among the 40% of the Fairbanks population that enjoyed hunting in the flats.
In Fairbanks, the unemployment led to a great deal of grumbling about hiring practices at the dam construction site, with many disaffected workers claiming that the Corps of Engineers was hiring workers from the Lower 48 instead of people from Alaska. Despite attempts by the Corps of Engineers to show the rumor was false, bad feelings toward the dam project persisted for several years. The grousers did not appreciate those who pointed out that the truck traffic through Fairbanks and the need for Fairbanks to be a supply point for the dam undoubtedly generated quite a few more jobs than might otherwise have been there.
Alaska again voted strongly in favor of President Reagan in the 1984 national race, and in 1985, shortly after Reagan’s re-election, he began negotiations with the Canadian government for an improved shared electrical grid between the two countries. In addition to interties between the Quebec/Ontario grid and New England, he pushed for joining Alaska’s power grid to that of the Yukon and British Columbia. The latter was connected to the United States through interties in Washington, and further connections could theoretically allow electricity from Rampart to power televisions and electronics in Washington. The negotiations went quickly because of the close relations between the two countries, previous agreements along similar lines, and the obvious utility of the agreement. Though criticized in some corners for putting the cart before the horse — Rampart was still years away from generating its first electricity — Reagan’s move was praised in Alaska. It also was seen a move geared at compensating Yukon Territory residents for the effect the dam was having on upper Yukon salmon.
In the late 1980s, work on the dam continued much as it had done through the early 1980s and late 1970s. Concrete was poured, men shaped and flattened it, and more concrete was poured atop it. At the base of the dam, the southern powerhouse was completed and the first nine turbines and generators were installed, but there was as yet no water to turn them. Work on the footings for the northern powerhouse also proceeded, albeit extremely slowly, as this work was not useful until Lake Kennedy rose to a higher level.
At this point in construction, far more attention was paid to the effect the dam was having on the stocks of Yukon River salmon than to the actual construction. The enormous fish ladder was completed in 1980, well before the river’s flow was entirely diverted by the dam. Taking into consideration the problems endured by debris and ice clogging the diversion tunnels, screens were put into place in the temporary sluices through the dam that allowed water to flow through and keep the Yukon flowing downstream. Though these sluices succeeded in keeping the lower Yukon navigable, the screens blocked spawning salmon from swimming upstream in a way that the diversion tunnels did not.
Thus, when the sluices were put into action in spring 1982, so too was the fish ladder. But because the downstream flow of fish also was blocked by the screens in the sluices, enormous protests were raised before the sluices and ladder began operating. Engineers had proposed an elaborate fish collection system that involved a crane lifting a collection of juvenile fish over the dam and into the downstream portion of the river. After initial attempts proved less than successful and widespread protests continued, engineers bowed to popular opinion and removed the grates.
Despite their fears, debris and ice did not clog the sluices, and juvenile fish were permitted to move downstream with the flow of the river. Once completed, the fish would simply slide down the spillway with excess water, avoiding the turbine intakes, which were protected by screens.
With downstream access assured, fishermen’s attention again returned to the fish ladder and fish swimming upstream. Regulations against workers fishing at the construction site — used during the trans-Alaska pipeline construction — were again put into place, and strict monitoring was done to ensure no workers took any salmon from the fish ladder or resting basins as they made the lengthy climb upstream.
Just as dam work began to slow, global oil prices plummeted as a result of Saudi Arabia slashing prices. This virtually halted new exploration on Alaska’s North Slope, reducing demand for services in Fairbanks still further. During the boom times of the pipeline and dam, the city had become overbuilt, and retailers that had relied on free-spending workers relaxing after time in construction camps suddenly faced hard times. Development plans were put on hold, then abandoned altogether. More than a few homeowners simply left their keys at the bank that held their mortgage before catching a flight out of town. So many cars were abandoned at the airport that the city was unable to find buyers for them at auction.
Adding to the problem was an influx of displaced Alaska Bush village residents. More than 1,500 people were displaced by Lake Kennedy’s rising waters, and most made their way to Fairbanks. Many lived a subsistence lifestyle, catching or growing their food, and the Western way of life was foreign to them. Holding down a regular job was a new experience, and even if they had lived in a village and were familiar with town life, their family connections were broken and they had to start over again. More than a few turned to drinking, their only income coming from interest checks provided by all Alaska Native corporations to their respective groups and tribes.
Further intensifying the village flight was the increased cost of life in the villages. Construction of the dam interrupted barge traffic to most river communities in east-central Alaska, and flying in items became the main source of supply for many of these villages. The resulting increased costs drove more than a few families to Fairbanks or Anchorage in search of stable work. Making matters worse was the wildlife shortage upstream of the dam. As Lake Kennedy inundated the Yukon Flats, the moose, waterfowl and fur-bearing animal population similarly plummeted. These factors crippled subsistence life in east-central Alaska and caused more than a few complaints among the 40% of the Fairbanks population that enjoyed hunting in the flats.
In Fairbanks, the unemployment led to a great deal of grumbling about hiring practices at the dam construction site, with many disaffected workers claiming that the Corps of Engineers was hiring workers from the Lower 48 instead of people from Alaska. Despite attempts by the Corps of Engineers to show the rumor was false, bad feelings toward the dam project persisted for several years. The grousers did not appreciate those who pointed out that the truck traffic through Fairbanks and the need for Fairbanks to be a supply point for the dam undoubtedly generated quite a few more jobs than might otherwise have been there.
Alaska again voted strongly in favor of President Reagan in the 1984 national race, and in 1985, shortly after Reagan’s re-election, he began negotiations with the Canadian government for an improved shared electrical grid between the two countries. In addition to interties between the Quebec/Ontario grid and New England, he pushed for joining Alaska’s power grid to that of the Yukon and British Columbia. The latter was connected to the United States through interties in Washington, and further connections could theoretically allow electricity from Rampart to power televisions and electronics in Washington. The negotiations went quickly because of the close relations between the two countries, previous agreements along similar lines, and the obvious utility of the agreement. Though criticized in some corners for putting the cart before the horse — Rampart was still years away from generating its first electricity — Reagan’s move was praised in Alaska. It also was seen a move geared at compensating Yukon Territory residents for the effect the dam was having on upper Yukon salmon.
In the late 1980s, work on the dam continued much as it had done through the early 1980s and late 1970s. Concrete was poured, men shaped and flattened it, and more concrete was poured atop it. At the base of the dam, the southern powerhouse was completed and the first nine turbines and generators were installed, but there was as yet no water to turn them. Work on the footings for the northern powerhouse also proceeded, albeit extremely slowly, as this work was not useful until Lake Kennedy rose to a higher level.
At this point in construction, far more attention was paid to the effect the dam was having on the stocks of Yukon River salmon than to the actual construction. The enormous fish ladder was completed in 1980, well before the river’s flow was entirely diverted by the dam. Taking into consideration the problems endured by debris and ice clogging the diversion tunnels, screens were put into place in the temporary sluices through the dam that allowed water to flow through and keep the Yukon flowing downstream. Though these sluices succeeded in keeping the lower Yukon navigable, the screens blocked spawning salmon from swimming upstream in a way that the diversion tunnels did not.
Thus, when the sluices were put into action in spring 1982, so too was the fish ladder. But because the downstream flow of fish also was blocked by the screens in the sluices, enormous protests were raised before the sluices and ladder began operating. Engineers had proposed an elaborate fish collection system that involved a crane lifting a collection of juvenile fish over the dam and into the downstream portion of the river. After initial attempts proved less than successful and widespread protests continued, engineers bowed to popular opinion and removed the grates.
Despite their fears, debris and ice did not clog the sluices, and juvenile fish were permitted to move downstream with the flow of the river. Once completed, the fish would simply slide down the spillway with excess water, avoiding the turbine intakes, which were protected by screens.
With downstream access assured, fishermen’s attention again returned to the fish ladder and fish swimming upstream. Regulations against workers fishing at the construction site — used during the trans-Alaska pipeline construction — were again put into place, and strict monitoring was done to ensure no workers took any salmon from the fish ladder or resting basins as they made the lengthy climb upstream.
