| Show MEN Ar AND D SCIENCE WIN HARD BATTlE WITH THE STUBBORN HEAR BEAR RIVER AlVER AND HARNESS ITS POE 4 4 c i ts 4 a r q y s- s 3 p s' s 71 7 1 A 4 4 a f S 4 s 4 S S S- S 4 r I 4 c y 4 44 1 5 S S Utah Power and company's big dam in Bear river near Oneida just co The Tho arrow v rl t r r r. r now power house In In the blackness that midnight brings to mountaIn canyons the tho two men stepped silently to the tho edge of the mass ot of con con- crete Sheer from their feet reet dropped the upstream up up- stream face ot of the tho great groat dam The swirlIng swirl swirl- In Ing waters or of Bear river nearlY feet reet below sent up ip to them a rhythmic roar a as the tho water turned In around the river bend and brought up against the steel and concrete con con- crete creto barrier only to eddy anti churn a tumultuous escape through the Ule sluiceways ot of the structure and ebb away with the current of the stream belo below Somehow the river seems to understand what you are trying t t. do It seems to know kno that man is harne harnessing Its waters and with all the tho cunning or of an Indian It struggles against th the we inevitable con con- quor quer In the end ond but th water fights us to the finish The words came from rom the Utah Power and Light company's construction superintendent super super- at Oneida on Bear river where work nork Is being completed on one ot of too the most Important units ot of th the company's project for developing a large amount of electrical energy for distribution In Utah and Idaho And the tho superintendents superintendent's state state- ment nn nfl he stood on the edge ot of the tho dam watching the creaking derricks derric swing their great loads up out of the glare ot of the arc lIghts Into the semidarkness while the tho themen m men n on the night shUt shift bent to their task at the toot foot ot of the mountain mountainside sIde summarized ono one ot of the most Interesting interesting Inter Inter- esting and and- teats feats ot of construe construe- Uon tion work the West has known In years Tim Tho harnessing ot of Bear river at OneIda with the great reinforced concrete dam that Is nearing completion has proven ono oro ot of the most difficult phases ot of tho Utah Power and Light company's entire development de- de work along this stream As It stands toda nearly cubic yards ards of concrete te have gone gone Into th tho dam Including some barrels or of cement Enormous Reservoir The structure rears Its face tace SS 88 feet teet above tM the surface ot of the rIver and at the top lop the tho dam stretches feet from moun- moun tam side to canyon canon wall creating a reservoir reservoir reser- reser voir of oC tremendous capacity At the tho surface ot of the river the dom dam Is seventy four feet teet thick from its face tace td the rear elevation At the top the width from the upstream face tace to the rear ale ele- Is twentY four feet reet Work haS hal been pushed d night and day on on the tha structure and In daylight and dark dark- noss noss' the scene ot of operations has pro pro- seated a remarkable spectacle At night scores or of powerful electric arc fights haVe hae been swung above the darn dam sUe site to enable the night force torce to push their work workS work'S S 'S 5 rapidly as tho day shirt shift The dam Is located at the lower end of ofa ofa a large natural reservoir basin formed by bythe bythe the widely diverging walls nalls ot of the canyon through which Bear river flows The canyon canyon can can- yon widens abruptly a mile or two above the dam site and In the lower end or of the basin thus formed nature placed a for tor- ml moldable able mountain standing alone alono and de- de The stream flows along the upper side ot of the basin and passes between the base or of this mountain known as Little mountain and the north wan wall or of the can can- you yon Then the river turns sharply to the south and when It reaches tho south wall Qt of tho natural reservoir It again turns and enters time tho narrower portion of th the canyon canyon can can- yon and flows on down through the Narrows Narrows Nar- Nar rows and Mink at which points the Utah Power and Light company Intends to erect darns dams an and power houses similar to the work now nearing n at atOne One One- da Tho Oneida dam has been constructed between mountain and the north wall waIl or of the tho canyon and with a a. great natural earthen dyke that tb-at stretches from Crom the other aide or of Little mountain almost directly across the basin to the tho south wall of the canyon it forms the Oneida user user- voir Big Engineering Problem The ere erection of the c am haft has presented B. B constant engineering and construction problem that has put to a high test the I ability the tho patience and the tho courage or of orthe the mon men with the work wok Bear river flows swift and deep In the narrow and rocky defile between LIttle mountain and the canyon wall and yet nature could e scarcely have havo devised a amoore amore more moore Ideal setting for tor a damn dam on whIch so much depends than thon the Utah Power and Light company compan engineers discovered when they selected the nito for for the Oneida structure Examination showed that beneath tIme tho mud bottom or of the tho river rl at thIs point lay t ft solid rock foundation or of lr ir regular contour Rugged cra crags s jutted tip up from the bedrock or of tho river bottom and when the cofferdams put down and the ti-me river rier bed prepared for tor the foundations or of the dam the masses of concrete were poured Into the th solid rock crevices found n a tooting footing that anchors the dam fam safely and securely for tor all time to come Tho wall aU ot of the tho canyon Into which time the north end of the dam Is fastened and the 81 side ot of Little mountain to which the opposite op- op posits end or of the structure Is tied were found to contain great rca t shelves es or of solid rock breaking at right angles to the thc line of thrust or of the darn dam so 50 that when the concrete or of the barrier was poured Into the tho forms the dam he became ame almost almot an inseparable It- It separable portion ot of the tho canyon wall vail and mountain SIde Battle With River The of oC the dam was a battle royal roal with the tho river from rom the start The Tho first flumes put In to carry time the stream away tram from Its ils banks at time dam Ile In order that operations might be I started at the waters water's edge dg were swept awa away like feathers On the P side aide ot of the canyon wall wail above ho darn dam the intricate mixing and material handling machinery arid and was Im tall d. d while at the tho base baso or of Little mountain on the other side of the rIver the he were erected All the gra gravel cl cement and other material has been handled b by gravity and after being mixed tine the concrete has been carried to the dam tiani through h lengths ot of Jargo argo pipe running fr from m th tiie concrete mixers mix mix- ers era to the forms A short distance above e the present surface ot of the r river er arc 11 l- l two twIn six foot circular sluiceways sluice sluice- ways running directly through h th the dam dani These are provided r tho regulation or of orthe the water that Is permitted to escape through the dam clam down the regular channel chan chan- nd nel or of the river These sluIceways are equipped with whAt Is known ns as butterfly gates which are operated by machinery installed In space provided for it on the rear real wall ot of the dam So great will he be th tb weight of at atthe the water on these gates that without provision for tor relieving this pressure to some extent It would bo be almost almot impossible ble to move the submerged gates Each gate therefore Is eQuipped with a small bypass ten Inches square 0 Of SolId BoUd Concrete When thes bypasses are opened in inthe the gates the gradually fill with water and when they hold sufficient to relieve the pressure on the face tace ot of the gates the hatter Jatter are raised raised- The dam Is or of orthe the kind known as concrete concrete- gravity type and a regular Intervals as the tho concrete has been run Into the forms torms h heavy vy boulders after oter being washed clean in the river havo been Imbedded In the cement work The construction superintendent at Oneida and his engineers ha have vo had hod to keep watchful guard over tho waters ot of the river rouble roubIe develops unheralded In such sueh an undertaking and when everythIng everything every every- thIng seems to IndiCAte that the tho water Is being safely handled the tho river breaks out afresh In the most unexpected places place At Oneida Onela every man ot of the bIg force torce employed on the work seems to have caught the spirit ot of tim tho struggle against tho te river and rarelY has a more effective organization been perfected d. d The gates for the are aro now being baing set sel and few weeks the damn dam will stand practically completed |
