Boxcars full of cement

Cement for the building of Grand Coulee Dam was hauled in by the boxcar full. Thousands of loads were needed for the project. When it was done, the North Dam was built, along with Dry Falls Dam, and what we know as Banks Lake was filled with water. This inundated most of the old railroad grade. When time came to build the Third Powerhouse, how was all this cement going to get to the dam? By rail, most of the way.

Now cement was no longer hauled in boxcars. Now there were dedicated cars where cement could be loaded through hatches in the top, and another hatch on the bottom allowed the powder to flow out via gravity. The closest place to the dam by rail was Coulee City, but there was not enough room to construct an unloading facility. There was enough flat ground about 6 miles to the east, where an unloading facility was constructed. Cement could then be unloaded into a trailer and taken the remaining 30 miles by highway.

This location required a place name. It was christened "Cement." The location is still a siding along the railroad and features some grain silos to mark the spot.

Dan Bolyard 2019,

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