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Show Man has flung down a giant barrier directly in the path of the turbulent Colorado in Arizona. It has tamed the wild river- made it a servant to man's will. Big Red has lost meaning as a name for the Colorado. The colossus called Glen Canyon is now storing and releasing blue water. Glen Canyon Dam rises over 500 feet from the canyon floor. Its graceful bulk holds 5 million cubic yards of concrete. In the powerhouse at its toe, 475- ton generators spin quietly as they pour energy by the billions of watts into cross- country transmission lines. Behind it, 186- mile- long Lake Powell is filling. In 1964, Glen Canyon Dam was winner in the national competition for the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award. This annual award is given by the American Society of Civil Engineers to- " that engineering project that demonstrated the greatest engineering skills and represents the greatest contribution to . . . mankind." Built of rock and cement and sweat and skill, Glen Canyon Dam stands as a monument to the talent of its builders- and to reaffirmation of the pioneering spirit that is America. The manmade rock of the dam has become as one with the living rock of the canyon. It will endure as long as time endures. page 9 |