Show ark 0 lav DAM aa no 3 4 bd about D AM L rw D LOCK NO 1 8 alm clam 1 I JIM in WW 05 ee high ram e LOC TION OF THE THREE DAM bota on eo C aal WM foiw tori andis ola kopd are Ay alBy 44 I 1 R IT apus 1 0 M 1 11 1 19 1 R 1 17 y wv om T rwal 1 1 aw N deg facia aboud the wilson dam muscle shoals darn dam no 21 2 built by war department the largest dam in the wa world d torla as 03 it will appear when completed in 1925 insert map shows relative location of dams and locks gauge railroad 20 ailles of 0 sewers revera rev era 10 16 miles of 0 illary apparatus sections and a ihbe section 00 domestic and tire fire water supply a gallon ellon ultimate installation calls tor or eighteen mal main reservoir with pumping plant and niia alter and nil an lee if power units four of which are horsepower plant each and fourteen of horsepower each by JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN SHOALS an enormous hydraulic dr atille power and navigation development in process of construction M by the united states government on the tennessee river in northern Alaba alabama malts Is a subject of nationwide nation wide discussion by the american people various circumstances have combined to fix popular attention upon these govern ment owned properties tho the worlds ge largest hydraulic development americas entrance into the world war in 1917 1017 found us dependent upon chile for nitrates with which to manufacture explosives nitrates can be taken from the nitrogen in the air the power and the facilities for the manufacture of an adequate supply were not available he hence nee the federal government decided to construct a nitrate plant of its own muscle shoals was selected as the site because it had ample water power was waa convenient to the raw materials coal and limestone and was secure from a military viewpoint work was begun at muscle shoals in july ot of 1018 at the signing of tile the armistice in november of 1918 it a steam power nitrate plant had been practically completed wilson dam however had bad been barely begun congress decided to complete wit son dam and it will be ready to deliver its power some time in 1925 1025 muscle shoals did not become useless at the signing of the armistice on the contrary it assesses great peacetime peace pence time possibilities it can be made a source of two of the most important factors in our industrial lal development electricity and nitrogen compounds the uses of electrical power are almost limitless nitrogen compounds can be milde made into either explosives or fertilizer the preliminary stages of manufacture being tile the same completion of the muscle shoals project will also greatly increase the navigability of tile tennessee river during the last two years several offers have been made to the war department tor for part or all of tile the muscle shoals properties the secre secretary wry of war referred these offers to congress with the request for legislation covering the situation muscle shoals project in detail president coolidge in it message to congress december 0 1023 recommended that the properties be sold subject to the right of the government to retake them in time of wor war and with a covenant that expert experimentation menta if oil for the manufacture of fertilizers tili be carried on to success lie ile recommended that congress consider offers conduct negotiations anti and report definite recommendations this article however lio wever to Is solely for the purpose of giving the outstanding facts in connection with the physical aspects of the muscle shoals development other phases of tile the complicated complicate situation tire are purposely ignored the strictly wartime war time works at muscle shoals are for far from representing all of the arese prese present rit undertakings existing and proposed if present plans ore are carried out the complete development comprises the following dam no I 1 this Is a small navigation dam to bo be erected nt at florence two miles below tile the wilson dam its estimated cost Is its construction st Is not yet approved it Is to contain a navigation lock arid and will provide depth of water upstream up stream to the illson dam from florence to tile ohio a distance of miles there Is to be a six foot channel dam no 2 this la 19 the wilson dam elsewhere described in detail it will develop power and Is provided with naNI navigation gation locks its final cost cost Is estimated ot at dam no 8 this 1 Is R a proposed power and navigation dam located 18 miles above wilson dam its construction Is not yet approved it would raise the water in the river 40 feet and permit navigation a further distance up stream for about 05 65 miles it would supply power to a maximum of horsepower this dam would be even longer than the wilson dam but not so high its estimated cost Is nitrate plant no I 1 this Is a relatively small nitrate plant built in 1017 for experimental purposes at a cost coat of nitrate plant no 2 this la is a large nitrate plant built to supply nitrates for explosives during the war its total cost including a horsepower atea in plant find and a limestone quarry at waco was about Villa gesIn connection with nitrate plants nos 1 and 2 complete villages tor for workers were built plant no 2 covers a s site ite consisting of 2300 acres of land it consists of hii separate plants for tho the various chemical processes and there are in addition permanent houses hout Cs with electric lights sewers and water supply one hotel with rooms furnished with all modern improvements ta miles of improved roads ST 37 miles of standard gorgas power plant in order to obtain power for construction work and for operation of the nitrate plant while its main power supply was still una unavailable lable a horsepower generating plant was erected on the property of the alabama power company tit at gorgas ala ain 88 miles away find and connected with muscle shoals by a tong long transmission line this plant Is not an inte integral grul portion of tile the muscle shoals development it was therefore sold to the alabama power company under an agreement made with billat illat company atthe time it was erected f r largest dam in the world worl tile the illustration given herewith suggests outstanding features of wilson dam the inserted map shows the relative positions of the three dams the navigation part of the muscle shoals project broje et Is too extensive and complicated to be described in detail here in general it may be said that tile tho Tenn tennessee esce river rises in northeastern tennessee lows flows southwest makes tin an east to west ivest loop through northern alabama and then flows north through tennessee and kentucky joining tile the ohio near its juncture with the mississippi at calro cairo the tennessee Is wiles miles long from froin knoxville tenn renn to Pad paducah ky at muscle shoals in northern alabama the river falls feet in 37 miles here Is the main obstruction to tile the through navigation of the river with the three dams and the supplemental locks in operation the muscle shoals obstacle would be removed the allson dam as the illustration suggests Is an impressive structure and pleasing to the eye there are longer dams and dams that are higher lift but nono that la Is larger ministerial golfers in moments of stress requiring adequate expression will soon he bel expected to change over from gatun galun or ascuan to wilson or at least to cap the climax with wilson allson it should be remembered that the stream here runs from cast to west and that in the illustration the north bank is at tho the left of tho picture I 1 wilson dam was built primarily forthe for the purpose of furnishing electric power but the navigation phase had to be considered this accounts for the lock on the north bank then comes tile the main darn dam and next the power house extending front from the main dam to tile lie south shore the switch and control buildings will be located on oil the bluff on the south shore if a drydock Is needed in the future it will be located upstream from the lock hugh 1 L cooper designing and supervising engineer of the wilson dam says the entire structure will contain solid cubic feet of masonry and cover 20 acres of ground lie visualizes this mass of masonry by saying it Is equivalent to a concrete rodd road from froin new york to chicago 10 16 feet wide and six inches thick the project Is being constructed by the war department corps of engineers U S A under maj gen lansing 11 beach chief of engineers and brig gen hurry taylor assistant chief immediately in charge the construction forces are under tho the direction of coli col george it 11 mr cooper says of the dam proper the dam proper rises to a height of feet above foundations and backs up the tha water to a depth of 98 99 feet from the bedrock to the tha new water surface tho the spillway section of the dam Is of the gravity type of dam normal pool level above the darn dam la nt at elevation normal tall water Is in at elevation thus making the normal head available 92 feit feet the crest of the spillway Is at eleva iton and each spillway opening to lu 38 feet wide in the clear c ear with an 8 foot pier between supported on these piers and archier over each spillway opening is IB an arch bridge serving as an operating deck for the tha spillway control rates gates and providing a double track bridge and roadway across the river in all there are 68 spillway openings each with EL a control gato of structural steel IS 18 feet high and 40 feet long tile the last five sections of the dam adjoining and connecting to the power house forebay structure are not spillway sections says bays mr cooper in these ove five sections there are located thirteen sluices slut cea each sluice Is simply a 0 foot diameter conduit extending through the dam protected at the upstream end by a massive concrete screen and controlled nt at the downstream or discharge by a inch butterfly valve these valves are arc op crated by a small compressed air engine mounted on a car which travels on avrack above valves when one of the sluices Is opened under full head it discharges a stream felcht feet or more ln in diameter at a velocity at about 45 feet per second or thirty miles an hour enormous power to be ba generated Geme rated the power house structure I 1 can be divided into two ports parts the structure and tile the power house building tile the forebay structure ture Is that portion I 1 of the structure which retains the he water and nerves ns as a part of tho the water bair barrier bairley ler it Is designed to withstand the entire water pressure without the aid of the power house building the arch bridge and roadway continue without change of grade over the forebay structure to the south shore ebore the power house Is IB approximately 1200 1250 feet long feet wide and feet high and when completed will vili contain eighteen main units two aili of the lie latter fourteen and the four horsepower units are being installed nt at tile lie present time making nn initial installation of 2 CON horsepower each bach power unit consists of a anter turbine of tile francis type in a vertical wiling setting with electrical generator neove above on the stanle four horsepower turbines were manufactured by the william crimp sons som engine building company and the lie generators for same were made by the etc electric atric manufacturing conui any five thou thousand men ore are employed on tile construction st of tills this project they work in three shifts each shift working eight hours this con st ruction c aina Is in refill reality ty a fair sized town the main concrete mixing plant Is located on tin nn island in the middle of the river from here the concrete la Is hauled in large buckets on railroad cars cara to any part of the job where it may bo be needed railroad tracks serve every available part of tile tho work in all more lhnn twenty miles of track have been laid for construction purposes A construction bridge carrying railroad tracks as well no n tracks for lauge traveling derricks had to be constructed ted in order to build the for the concrete a lumber yard sawmill anti and layout platform had to be erected the lumber used on oil the job will run to millions of feet board measure the manufacture of destructive explosives from nitrates taken from the air Is it a fascinating subject especially in connection with the lie fact that the same nitrates can easily be turned into tiarra barm less and beneficent fertilizer As it stands today nitrate plant no 2 can fix from the atmosphere the nitrates required for the continuous supply of ammunition for tin nn army of men in war time the cost of ammunition Is not an essential feature dut but can fertilizer be manufactured at muscle shoals at peacetime peace time prices this seems to be an unsettled question maj J K crain ordnance department U S A says bays on this his much vexed question in connection with the muscle shoals project there is in some borne doubt that fertilizer can be produced by the process for or which muscle shoals properties are now equipped at a price low enough to compete with the products from other sources however this subject to Is engaging tile the attention ot of scientists in both private and governmental employ promising results have been attained at tile the fixed nitrogen laboratory in washington U D C which laboratory was wag established by the war dep department artmont but turned over to the control of the department of agriculture in 1921 the doubtful outcome of in this field hat hag caused the war de apartment part ment to oppose of the title to these properties without adequate guarantees that the plants must be ba returned to the control of 0 the fhe government in an effective condition to bo be utilized in the manufacture of 0 explosives should they pass to the control of persons who did not continue their use of the manufacture of fertilizers taking nitrogen from air tho the raw materials employed in the manufacturing process are mi nitrogen trogen obtained from the file limestone and coal which Is used in the form of coke cohe says rays major crain the first step Is to burn the limestone to lime which Is tin nn oxide of calcium cao this is then mixed with coke carbon and the mixture Is heated to a very high temperature in electric furnaces the product thus formed Is a combination of calcium and carbon the familiar calcium carbide cac 2 which generates acetylene where placed in water the carbide Is run out of the furnaces in a liquid state and after cooling and solidifying Is ground to a fine powder i the next step lg Is to adt add nitrogen to the carbide for this ibis purpose practically pure nitrogen Is needed there are several different methods of sop sep orating nitrogen from the oxygen of the alie air but the one used at muscle shoals because of its simplicity and cheapness Is first to 0 o air find then to separate the two gases by taking inking advantage of the fact that the boiling points of tile tho two liquid gases tire lira slightly different oxygen bolls at 1825 degrees Centigrade and nitrogen at IO 10 B degross degress centigrade th the e process Is very similar to 0 that used in separating mixtures of alcohol and water the actual fixation of the nitrogen la Is now nosy accomplished complis hed by pat passing sang it over the finely ground carbide heated to a temperature of about 2000 degrees F fahrenheit A reaction takes place under tinder these conditions and 11 complex compound of calcium caum carbon aind nitrogen called caan 2 Is the lie result I 1 the next step in the lie production of both explosives plo and fertilizer Is to beat the in large steel tanks with steam and water which results in the formation of ordinary am ammonia Arn ammonia can be readily changed into nitric add acid UNO IINO 3 and from this ibis add acid any desired nitrogen comp compound aund for cither agricultural or military purposes can be made for fertilizers |