Show TITANIC TASK SLATED FOR BOULDER DAM washington following the announcement no that bids for the construction st ot at boulder dam proper would he be called for or by december 1 the interior department has given out further details in regard to this project it Is stated that the first of the tasks at the dam site wit wil be that of driving tour four tunnels each fifty feet in diameter and about a mile long ill through rough the solid volcanic rock cliffs on each side of the canyon these alone will cost between fifteen and tw twenty enty million dollars when these tunnel sare completed a cofferdam 80 feet high will be con strutted ted some distance above the site of 0 the permanent dam and a similar one below the dam site their purpose being to divert the water no matter how great the floods during the time of construction this will leave the river bed between the colt coff ardama dry the initial task at the actual dam site will be to remove from the bed ot of the river the loose boulders and dirt that ile he above bedrock this loose material la Is from to 1500 i feet thick and it will be a herculean task to sweep the bed rock clean ot at it not until the tunnels are completed the river diverted and the bed rock ex posed exposed can caa the actual construction ot a f the dam itself begin starting at bed rock this great concrete ture feet lingat long at the base and sloping to a width of 0 45 feet at the top will begin to arise to D its ultimate height of feet here it will con statute 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 on ly by contractors originally it was waa thought that it might be wise to let the different items in this final undertaking of dam con struxton ton to different contractors ono firm might drive the tunnels on one side of 0 the canyon and another firm those on the other side A different contractor might build the cofferdam might excavate for the great dam might erect that dam aft after e r careful study and consultation wit with h the be leading contractors of the nation however it was decided that this entire undertaking through the elimination 0 of duplication could be moro more economically handled bandied as aa a single project the bids for or this thi shuge hugo contract wll will call for the expenditure of sixty or seven seventy ty million dollars not many contracts of this size have been lot let in the history ot of the united states it is known however that there are a score of contractors in this country capable ot of handling an undertaking 0 of t this size and a number of bids are expected ninety days will be given contractors to submit their bids the contract therefore Is expected to be let a bout about march I 1 in the mean time the th preliminary contracts bringing transportation por tation to the da malte providing provida power dower living quarters water gatei supply |