Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
- Details, Details
- What's that building to the left of the tower?
- Coal Barges
- Bromo-Seltzer
- Inner harbor
- The Basin
- What a headache!
- Giant stepladder?
- Baldwin 62303
- Baldwin VO-1000
- Cold
- No expense spared
- Tough Guys
- Lost in Toyland
- And without gloves
- If I were a blindfolded time traveler
- Smoke Consumer Also Cooks
- Oh that stove!
- Possibly still there?
- What?!?
- $100 Reward
- Freeze Frame
- Texas Flyer wanted
- Just a Year Too Soon
- WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.
- Yes, Icing
- You kids drive me nuts!
- NOT An Easy Job
- I wonder
- Just add window boxes
Photos submitted by Shorpy members!
Print Emporium
Superstructure: 1942
June 1942. "Wheeler Dam, Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority). Gantry crane." Acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the U.S. Foreign Information Service. View full size.
Get Joe dam knowledge
Thanks, Old Joe, you're right! The plans on Wikipedia (bottom left) show there are two cranes - an 85 ton gantry crane over the roadway, and a 270 ton gantry crane (from the photo) to service the generators. The 270 ton framework has one side short, one side tall. The original photo is of the tall side, possibly from the parking lot. One of the older Street View photos shows both cranes moved forward with the 270 ton crane on the left:
Wrong Gantry
Archfan is looking at the wrong gantry crane. The picture was taken from the downstream side of the dam. In your Google view, if you move forward (or back up) and look to the right you can see the heavy gantry crane that is in the picture.
Uplifting
The frame looks like it hasn't changed, but they may have reconfigured the hoists. It appears it is maintained and used regularly, if not often.
Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5