One incident illustrates the ingenuity of the survey crews: one tangent of the Bonneville-Grand Coulee line was sighted in at night using the lights of an automobile 72.33 miles away.

Some suggest the confusion of PWA and WPA was planned. Public Works Administration set up in 1933 under Ickes handled large projects. The Works Progress Administration was set up in 1935 under Harry Hopkins to put men to work quickly. The President used both to help get BPA construction started.

Bonneville Advisory Board. The Bonneville Project Act provided that the Administrator consult with the Bonneville Advisory Board which was comprised of representatives of the FPC and Secretaries of War, Agriculture, and Interior. At the first meeting November 30, 1937 discussion concerned proposed allocation of Bonneville Dam costs, wholesale rates, additional generators, and transmission.

Those at the second meeting April 18, 1938, agreed on proposed rate schedules and reviewed transmission progress. There were no other meetings that year, but on October 18, Ross briefed newly appointed board members from FPC and Agriculture on the board's progress. He mentioned a long list of items, including the fact that there were 700 employees on the Bonneville Project staff, surveys had been completed for 600 miles of lines, 550 WPA workers were clearing transmission line rights-of-way, contracts had been let for $4 million in materials, and power sales arrangements were proceeding.

J. Perry Alvey advised Ross on December 3 that General Schley, Corps of Engineers chief, had mentioned to the Appropriations Committee that the Bonneville Project Act stated the Administrator would act in consultation with the Bonneville Advisory Board. Ross promptly cleared up the matter through General Robins at Portland, and dispatched a letter December 6 to bring board members up to date. The 1937-46 Board minutes constitute a running account of policies considered, and progress reports. Transmission Line Progress. Constructing longdistance, high-voltage, high-capacity transmission lines is a challenge to a well-established organization, let alone a new one. In 1938 BPA faced the problem of recruiting engineers, construction workers, procurement staff, land appraisers, attorneys, surveyors, and others to establish a construction organization.

Land acquisition involved obtaining fee simple title to thousands of parcels of land, much of it heavily forested, for

300- or 375-foot width rights-of-way for twin-circuits, using separate, parallel sets of steel towers. Later construction would involve taller and heavier double-circuit steel towers to hold both circuits on a narrower right-ofway, particularly through mountain passes.

Construction roads, material dumps, and large substations were part of the complex construction program. Housing had to be provided occasionally at remote substations or switching centers. Initially, land condemnation required the Department of Justice to process the many law suits. An August 30, 1938 policy change to acquire easements instead of fee simple titles reduced the workload.

Staff members recruited in 1938 included many key persons whose careers extended over much of BPA's history: Sherwood Jones was chief of the land division with A. B. MacPherson assisting; Charles E. Carey, formerly with PNWRPC became principal construction engineer; Donald S. Campbell, civil engineer in charge of surveys; Orin A. Demuth, F.A. Riebe and J. P. Jolliffe, electrical studies; A. A. Osipovich, mechanical; Glen Dunbar, H. R. Stevens and Clarence Frenke, substations; Dean Wright, drafting; C. A. Lund, materials and specifications; C. H. Bjorquist, materials and inspections; Logan C. Stewart, procurement officer; L. M. Applegate and Harold M. Potts, rate studies; and Frank Keenan and Charles Leavy (later Administrator, Southeastern Power Administration), attorneys. R. F. Stevens took over the engineering and construction division when Carey became Acting Administrator following Ross's death.

As the westerly winds are lifted by the
Cascade Mountains into the higher and

colder air, thunder and lightning re-
sults. BPA's response to the severe
lightning problems was to develop the
fast reclosers.

Procurement involved preparing specifications, bid calls, materials inspection, storage and issuance to the construction contractor. Bids came in on more than $3 million worth of materials from August 10 to October 4, 1938.

The first big line from Bonneville to Grand Coulee included the following main procurement contracts:

September 15, 1938

September 19, 1938
September 20, 1938

137,000 insulator units $108,000 1,353 steel towers $914,218

3,288,000 feet conductor $781,705

Communications was accomplished by carrier current on the transmission line, telephone, and two-way radio. The two-way radio system was used in construction, then in operation and maintenance, and for emergency and civil defense backup during World War II.

With the close of 1938 BPA prepared the budget for fiscal year 1940. It totaled $19.7 million for construction and $400,000 for operations. The Bureau of the Budget recommended $14.4 million. Congress approved this plus $400,000 for operation, maintenance, and administration. Congress also funded Bonneville generators 5 and 6.

BPA moved December 29, 1938 from the old Failing Building in Portland to a new headquarters building at 811 NE Oregon Street. Open house was held there January 10, 1939, and at the Engineering Annex, 1300 NE Union Av

enue.

The transmission grid master plan Ross released in December was prepared so individual lines would have the voltage and capacity necessary to serve as part of the long-range network. This involved drafting specifications to take ice and wind loading and lightning conditions into account, as well as electrical characteristics. The first major bid document for the twin-circuits to Vancouver, Washington required 75 pages of specifications. The contract was awarded February 21, 1939, and construction started March 13, the day before Ross died.

The largest BPA installation was built north of Vancouver at Ampere, later renamed J. D. Ross Substation and still later the Ross Complex. Incidental to the major substation, BPA built extensive shop facilities to untank transformers, repair the fleet of vehicles, and manufacture many items. The substation became the center for metering, instrumentation, communications, and specialized equipment, such as that for hauling large transformers. In 1974, the Dittmer Control Center for power dispatching was activated at the Ross Complex.

Two incidents occurred after the death of Ross in connec