Hungry Horse Dam

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Published by Keenan News Agency
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504-THE MIGHTY HUNGRY HORSE DAM 

THE FOURTH LARGEST AND THIRD HIGHEST 

CONCRETE DAM IN THE WORLD, IN 

THE THIRD LARGEST STATE IN THE UNION

MONTANA

If the concrete used in this dam were equally divided between every man, woman, and child in the United States, each would receive an 80 pound chunk.

Hungry Horse Dam / Photo courtesy the U.S. Department of the Interior

Unlike most dams built to provide irrigation water, Hungry Horse Dam was created to store water to increase hydroelectric production from the Columbia River. Because of the brutal winters in the area, construction shut down during cold weather, and the dam took five years to built. When it was completed in 1953, Harry S. Truman turned the switch to begin the plant's operation.

For more information, visit the National Park Service website's Hungry Horse Dam - Montana page.