Show IWO E L 0 atrit c MD 0 pj nd R OJ et kl MT VV s I 1 0 ak top OF DAM r 41 t ille I 1 1 I V I 1 A 1 5 goo ft 01 nw r I 1 i ta A 4 ek J w ati V I J 1 I aa 4 il 1 A 1 0 11 A I 1 ra 1 in id aa A 74 7 4 4 M w g 2 N t 4 IM V by ELMO SCOTT WATSON time late in 1936 or early in 1937 uncle sam v will lit be able to say to the other oilier nations it if you want to see one of the modern wonders of the world come down into the southwestern part ot of my country and take a look at a lob job that ive just finished on the colorado river and in saying that he wont be uttering any idle boast for the completion ot of the hoover im III mark tile the conclusion ot of one ot of the greatest engineering Ingi feats ot of all time greater even than another nn other of the triumphs of uncle sam engineer that of digging the panama canal and when this gigantic ma mass ss of steel and concrete is finished it will be the biggest structure of its kind in the whole world not the least part of uncle sams triumph will be the fact that the dam and its appurtenant works work s will be completed in record time when the contractors began work on april 30 1931 they were to be allowed seven years in which to finish the job that would have meant its completion by april 20 1938 right now they are nearly early two years ahead of schedule and it Is estimated that at the present rate of progress the whole thing will have been done in six years or less impressive as are the statistical data connected with the hoover dam the average person cannot get an adequate idea of the immensity of the project from abstract figures alone host of us are poor judges of distance so it would mean little to say that the dam will have a maximum height of feet above its foundation rock that the top of it will be approximately COO feet above the level of the river and that it will raise the water surface of the river feet but lets get at it this way it if tile the washington monument were set up alongside the dam and you stood on top of that monument some one standing on top of the dara dan would hake haie to lot let down nearly GO CO yards of rope in order to pull you up to where he stood can you visualize cubic yards of concrete probably not nol but it if some one told you about a tower that was feet square and rose two and a half miles in tile the air you could get tome some idea of the amount of concrete that s going into the hoover dam the power plant nearby and the appurtenant works that amount of concrete would build a standard paved highway hig h 16 feet wide which would extend all the way from seattle wash to miami fla admit that gallons of water Is a considerable amount of moisture that means gallons for every man woman and child in the united states that gallons is the amount of water which the reservoir created by the hoover dam will hold bold they also figure it in acre feet an acre foot being the amount of water that will cover one acre one foot deep when this reservoir Is full it will contain acre feet enough water to cover the whole state of new york to the depth of a foot but enough of statistics for a moment in favor of cf some more general information about tills s gigantic project the hoover dam Is being tel built in the upper black canyon on the 6 colorado borad river about 25 miles southeast of 0 las vegas nev where the river terms ferms part of the arizona nevada boundary the purposes of the project are flood control and general river regulation for the colorado has long been one of the most unruly and destructive of all the rivers in america irrigation silt control domestic water supply and power development for these purposes the project calls not only for the construction st of the huge dam und and power plant in black canyon but also the construction of the all american canal in southern california the total cost of tile the project Is placed at approximately M divided up as follows dam and reservoir all american canal power development 53 8 2 2 W and interest during construction 17 but lest feat anyone think since this Is a federal project that its construction means that many millions out of the pockets of american taxpayers let it be stated at once that uncle sams sama investment in it in the form of congressional appropriations will be repaid in full within the vest next 50 years from the income berlied from supplying irrigation water and from the sale ot of power generated in the power plant a 11 huge structure of steel and concrete ISCO feet long loaf which bill M stand just juet below the darn dam although power development was a secondary consideration to in planning this project it promises to become a very important one in the future because of at the effect which cheap power win will have upon modernizing community and elvie life in the southwest Bouth west the plans for this power plant call for the installation of 15 turbines of horse power each and two turbines turbine ot of horse power each with 15 generators 0 of kilovolt ampere capacity each and two generators of kilovolt ampere each the lar larger ger units exceed in size the large aa yet manufactured the horse power tun bines ad md mccoo covolt ko volt ampere generators it i rl 4 4 vt 4 A 4 4 A r az fill nos 0 4 the world famous plant in russia oue one of these mammoth generators will weigh over pounds will measure 40 feet in diameter and stand 32 feet high this power plant will have a tot total al capacity of horse power or four times the amount developed on the american side of I 1 N niagara laga ra falls and nearly double the amount developed both at a I 1 niagara falls and muscle shoals even when the latter reaches the peak of its capacity it will be operated and maintained by the city of LOS log angeles and the southern Califor california til a edison corn pany under the general supervision super islon of a director appointed by the secretary of tile the interior the city will generate power for the states of arizona and nevada a large number of southern california municipalities and for the metropolitan water district and the southern california E edison dison company will generate power for company purchasers an essential part of the project Is the construction st of the all american canal so called because it Is entirely within the united states it will be begin in about 15 niles miles northeast of yuma ariz where the new imperial diversion dam will be built and will aill connect with the present system of irrigation ditches in the imperial v valley alley a distance of about SO miles at the same time a mile extension of this canal will pass east of the salton sea and carry water to the adjacent coachella Coa chella valley from the beginning of the all american canal near yuma it will pass through a ridge of shift ing sand and there the deepest cut will be about feet deep huge siphons or cu lverts will be needed in many instances to carry the canal under numerous washes plans call for ten of these on the main line ard and 79 on the coachella Coa chella branch siphons will also be used to carry the water under tile alamo and new rivers the canal Is expected to cost cast at leat least and bids will III be asked soon by the bureau plans contemplate a maximum canal capacity of second feet the imperial dam to be of the floating I 1 type ape will be 1700 feet long and will raise the river level 22 feet the canal will provide irrigation water for 8 acres in the imperial valley and an additional acres will te be brought under tinder cultivation by the coachella Coa chella extension some distance up the colorado river will be located the parker dam intended both as a power plant and as a diversion dam designs for this hydroelectric plant are rapidly nearing completion there miles directly across the state from los angeles will III originate the water supply for the metropolitan water district the reservoir will be located approximately miles downstream from the ho hoover over dam and Is a natural site for a 4 diversion barrier the first mile miles a extending west to shavers summit will require heavy expenditure for con st ruction and operation as the line will make an ascent of 1500 feet power from the hoover dam will be used to operate pumping lifts although the metropolitan water district Is paying for the construction of the parker dam by the reclamation bureau the project will b be e of immense importance to the southwest ultimately it Is proposed to build a power plant at the dam and then to extend transmission lines on down the river to the imperial dam using the power thus delivered to pump water for irrigation purposes in the vast undeveloped area in arizona this project will be known as the gila development one unique and interesting phase of the gigantic hoover dam project was the tremendous job of diverting the flow of the colorado river before tile the construction of the dam could be started to do this it was necessary to drive four tunnels CO 50 feet in diameter il through the rock of tte tle canyon walls two on each side bide of N A A Z ka ji r pa 40 4 41 t V I 1 A g 1 I 1 4 V 04 M I 1 faiq VW 4 ra ahl f I 1 I 1 J aa r fa 1 11 1 1 1 A recent view of the dam taken from a j point downstream 2 showing the site of the dam before con st ruction tion began its height of feet Is more than twice the height of any concrete dam now in existence 3 this picture was taken before tons of water began rushing through these diversion tunnels 4 this is how they pick lem em up and lay lern cm down at the dam A motor truck Is lifted like a childs toy by the iseton ton crane the biggest in the world 5 the first completed competed tower for transmission of power from the dam it is feet high and stands near kingston camp the river and build a temporary earth and roe rock k fill coffer dam to send second feet of 0 water rushing through the tunnels which have a total length of feet or three miles after their use for river diversion these tunnels bill b be utilized in the project scheme as follows after being plugged with concrete at locations approximately one third their length below belo the inlet ends of the inner tunnels and about midway in the outer tunnels the two I 1 inner tunnels will contain 30 foot steel pipes con connecting hect intake towers in the reservoir with the penstocks pen peD stocks to the power plant and the canyon wall outlet works and the lower por portions tiong of the two outer tunnels will be used for spillway outlets and these 30 10 foot steel pipes bring up again the phrase worlds largest which must be used so often in connection with the hooter dam for they are the largest pipes ever constructed ted in the history of manufacturing they are made by an ohio company and because they are too big to be shipped by railroad from the companas comp anys plant in the buckeye state it had to build a fabricating plant near the dam one ode length of this pipe 12 feet long and 30 feet lu in diameter Is made from three steel plates so heavy that only two plates can be shipped from the steel mill in ohio to the fabricating plant near the dam on one railroad car two such lengths of pipe welded together comprise one erection section weighing tons which Is heavier than many I 1 types apes of railroad locomotives and this Is typical of the scale upon which everything is being done at tile the hoover dam to tell of any detail of the work there Is to d den in superlatives super lathes for it Is there that uncle sam S am the greatest engineer in the world Is working 9 day and night rushing to completion the worlds greatest engineering project 0 by western News newspaper union |