A New Wall At the Dalles Dam

Crews at the actual Dalles Dam began to build a concrete wall in fall 2008, stopped for the high-water months, then finished last spring for the annual out-migration of young salmon and steelhead.

The new wall is 10 feet wide and 850 feet long -- nearly the length of three football fields. Anchored to the long concrete floor below the dam, it cost $51 million.

And it seems to work.

A study conducted this spring and announced last week showed remarkable results: 96 percent of spring and summer chinook successfully passed The Dalles Dam this year, up 4 percentage points over similar tests. The study found that 94 percent of fall chinook survived the dam, up 7 percentage points, and that 95 percent of juvenile steelhead survived. The corps does not have previous rates for steelhead survival at The Dalles.

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