Historic Hood River
Hydroelectric Generator
10-3-2012
Notes
I believe Alva Day shot this interior of a hydro project power house on his 1917 trip to Alaska. If you look closely you can see all the major components– the turbine to the right which uses a stream of water to rotate the shaft, the flywheel which minimizes speed fluctuations, the generator which produces the electric current, and the regulator which keeps the speed of the shaft constant. Modern hydro projects may be an entirely different scale, but share many design elements.
Scott Cook
This looks much like the 1910 one you can still visit in the White River canyon in Tygh Valley.
Arthur
Scott, we actually have several Alva Day photos of that power house (White River Falls State Park). I don’t think this is the same one, but it is very similar. I’ll be posting some great pictures of a major turbine failure from that power house.