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Kim Fundingsland/MDN
Loren Nishek, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project engineer, left, consults with a worker during a renovation and improvement project nearing completion inside the Garrison Dam intake structure.
PICK CITY – They haven’t been used since 1956. Nevertheless, an upgrade and inspection project on the massive gates at the Garrison Dam intake structure is nearing completion.
The intake structure, located on the Lake Sakakawea side of Garrison Dam, just above the Garrison Dam power plant, became operational in 1956. Water from Lake Sakakawea flows through 10 gates at the intake structure and then channeled into five 24-foot tubes, or penstocks, that supply water to the electricity generating turbines at the power plant on the opposite side of the dam.