Concrete, WA

April 2nd

Another passable day for a ride, so it was off to Concrete, WA, a small town on the North Cascades Highway. The highway skirts Concrete, and so I had never really stopped to have a look around.

Concrete silos, not decaying, in Concrete, with snowy peaks

This area used to be one of two concrete making areas in the town, the other being on the other side of the Baker River. This view is looking south, with highway 20 just the other side of the silo, then the Skagit River a little further south still (this image is roughly looking south). There also used to be a railway line just the other side of the silo, but it was closed in 1996.

Portland Cement Company former field offices in Concrete

The old Superior Portland Cement headquarters, now unused, with Bald Mountain in the distance. This plant was in use until 1967.

Lower Baker Dam

Lower Baker Dam, just north of Concrete

Puget Sound Energy operates two dams on the Baker River. This one is not much more than a stone's throw from downtown Concrete. The structure in the lower right (with blue steelwork) is the power station for the dam, and the cement cylinder on the hill is the surge tank, which absorbs the shock when the valves are closed on the turbines.

Lower Baker Dam, just north of Concrete

A fuller view of the dam wall, which was built in 1925, and raised to 293 feet in 1927. At that time, it was the highest (tallest) hydroelectric dam in the world.