Grand Coulee Dam crane-lifted buckets, each supporting eight tons of concrete. To cool the concrete and facilitate curing, about of piping was placed throughout the hardening mass. Cold water from the river was pumped into the pipes, reducing the temperature within the forms from to . This caused the dam to contract about eight inches in length; the resulting gaps were filled with grout. Until the project began, the stretch of the Columbia River where the dam was to rise was as yet unbridged, making it difficult to move men and materials. In , the Grand Coulee Bridge (a permanent highway bridge) was
Coulee Dam, Washington Coulee Dam, Washington Coulee Dam is a town in Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan counties in the State of Washington. The Douglas County portion of Coulee Dam is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,098 as of the 2010 census. Coulee Dam was founded by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1933, to serve as headquarters for the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. The Okanogan County portion was known as Mason City, location of the head contractor. The Portions in Douglas and Grant Counties was known as Engineers Town and was government owned. In 1942