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Show ENGINEERS FAVOR BLACK CANYON FORJAM SITE Cost Estimated at $165,000,-000 $165,000,-000 in Report of Commission Commis-sion to Congress (Black Canyon, recommended by engineers as the site for the 550 foot storage dam on the Colorado river, is located about 20 miles below be-low Boulder canyon and 40 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada. More accessible ac-cessible than the Boulder site, it has all the former's advantages as site for a flood and storage dam, according to the report.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 4. The congressional con-gressional commission of engineers and geologists appointed to investigate investi-gate the feasibility of the Colorado river project, has recommended that if built at all, the dam should be constructed at Black canyon and estimates es-timates the cost at $165,000,000. In its report, submitted to congress con-gress by Secretary West, of the Interior In-terior department, the commission declared to be "basic" the engineering engineer-ing feasibility of the dam across the main stream of the Colorado river at Black canyon or Boulder canyon. If no other site were available the commission reported, the "Boulder canyon site could safely be used so far as geological conditions are concerned." con-cerned." "In comparison with the Black canyon site, however," it is said, "the latter has certain advantages." In its cost estimate, the report ranges from 25 to 40 million dollars more than any previous estimate. It recommended that the main canal to be constructed in connection connec-tion with the project be entirely within the United States. "Under the proposed plan," the engineers en-gineers reported, "the water is to be diverted from the river at La-guna La-guna dam, the present intake of the canal from the Yuma irrigation project. 23 miles by river above th? intake of the Imperial canal. This will allow water to be taken from the river at the higher elevation necessary to permit the canal to serve its purpose. The board is of the opinion that it is feasible from an engineering standpoint to build a dam across the river at Black canyon that will safely impound water to an elevation of 5550 feet above low water. The darn proposed by the bureau of reclamation is of the gravity type, curved in plan with allowable stresses stress-es as high as 40 tons per square foot. It was the board's opinion that a dam of the gravity type Is suitable for the site and that such a dam would be safe, provided the maximum maxi-mum stress allowed to does not exceed ex-ceed those adopted in standard practice. prac-tice. The dam would by far be the highest yet constructed and would impound 26,000,000 acre feet of water. wa-ter. If the dam should fail, the report re-port said, the flood created probably prob-ably would destroy Needles, Parker, Blythe, Yuma and permanently destroy de-stroy the levees of the Imperial district, dis-trict, creating a channel into Salton sea, which probably would be so deep that it would be impracticable to re-establish the Colorado river in its normal course. To avoid such possibilities, the report continued, the dam should be constructed on conservative, if not ultra-conservative lines. The board reported that the growing grow-ing demand for power in southern California, when considered conservatively conserv-atively would be sufficient to absorb ab-sorb the probable power output of the proposed hydro-electric plant at the site of the dam. |