Show TITANIC TASK SLATED I 1 FOR 13 BOULDER DAM washington following the announcement no that bids tor for the con st ruction ot of boulder dam aara proper would be called tor for by december 1 the interior depart department ment has given out further details in reg P rd to this project it is stated that the first ot of the tasks at the dam site wll wil be that ot of driving tour four tunnels each fifty feet in diameter and about a mile long lonc through all the soled eolla volcanic rock cliffs on each side 0 of ft the canyon anyon these alono will cost betge between a fifteen and when t these ese tunnels are 1 completed mv a cofferdam d ara 80 feet ugh high will be constructed ted some distance above the site ot the permanent dam and 9 similar one below the dam site their purpose being to divert the water no matter how great the floods during tile tha time of construction consi ruction this will leave the river bed between the coff erdhams dry the initial task at the actual dam site will be to remove from the bed bad ot or the river the loose boulders and dirt that lie above bedrock this loose material Is from to 1500 feet thick and it will be a herculean task to sweep the bed rock clean of it ii not until 11 the tunnels are con completed plated the tha river diverted wid and the bed rock exposed can the actual construction of the darn dam itself begin starting at bed rock this great concrete structure 0 5 0 feet long at the base and sloping to a width of oi 45 feet at the top will begin to arise to its ultimate height of 72 feet here it will constitute a span feet long over which a transcontinental highway will pass building this wedge which re unites the ends of a severed mountain chain will be the final task to be figured ure d on by contractors originally it was thought that it might be wise to let the different items in this final undertaking of dam con struxton ton to different contractors one firm might drive the tunnels on one side of the canyon and another firm those on the other side A different contractor might build the cofferdam might excavate for the great dim dam might erect arec that dam after careful study and consultation with the leading contractors of the nation however it was decided that this entire undertaking through the elimination of duplication could be more economically handled as a single eject the bids tor for thi shuge contract will call tor for the expenditure of sixty or seventy million dollars do llara not many contracts of 0 this size have been letin let in the history of the united Sta teJ it Is known however that there are aie a score ot of contractors in this country capable ot of handling an undertaking of this size sze and and a number ot bt bids ds are I 1 expected alnemy days will ie be given contract ore to submit their bids the contract therefore la Is expected to be let about march 1 in the meantime the preliminary condrac contracts ts bringing transportation por tation to the dam damsite site providing Iro viding power living quarters water supply etc tc will have been executed A lull full force can beauton yuton be furnishing much employment and much stimulation to allied industries Idus tries ex W i |