Watch This Dam Explosion Free The White Salmon River


Like a spring snake being released from its canned prison, the White Salmon River in Washington State was freed after the 98 year old Condit Dam was dramatically breached with explosives last week.

The detonation, and resulting deluge, was captured on video by Andy Maser who also created a series of timelapse videos, condensing the two hours it took to drain the reservoir into a very satisfying two minute montage. And since we all care about the technical details, Andy’s kit included a Sony FS100, a Sony EX1 capturing to a KiPro hard disk recorder and a Canon 5D for the video portions. While the timelapse sequences were captured with a pair of Canon Rebel T2is and a Canon 7D.

The removal of the Condit Dam is part of a larger ecological effort to increase the water flow along the White Salmon River, which will in turn restore fish populations and other aquatic life that local species of birds and animals rely on. The dam was actually responsible for producing 14 megawatts of electricity for local residents, but the company that owned it decided it was cheaper to just blow it up and source the power from somewhere else, instead of upgrading the facility to facilitate the migration of fish. And probably because it would make for a kick arse video. [White Salmon Restored via National Geographic]