Show BOULDER DAM PROJECT BECOMES REALITY ely by WILLIAM C UTLEY DElt damis ready to begin B BOUL operation months time within about a the gigantic project one ot of the mightiest engineering jobs ever undertaken der taken by mani man once the subject of thousands of columns of newspaper comment throughout the land has been all but forgotten with the new interests that have attracted public attention the depression the new deal and others othera but for five years since the undertaking was begun in 1030 workers have tolled night and day until now the great dam Is a reality the project Is costing america and other projects directly associated socia ted with it account for another with the job so little removed from completion engineers of the bureau of reclamation pronounce it ready to eliminate the two great dangers confronting the territory which it serves they are the mad deadly floods of the giant colorado river and the parching droutha caused by lack of irrigation when entirely completed the dam will also furnish power to generate more electrical energy than any other water power development in P 4 k Z AN 4 A X 5 sufficient water for the operation of the power house which will be finished about july 1 with five of the seventeen 9 generating ene rating units installed the rest to be put in over a perio perlo dof a few years the greatest of these units to be the largest of its kind hind in use anywhere will generate horse power built in the shape of a horse shoe with feet long and the side against the dam feet wide the 15 story power house will be the sent seat af one more of the federal governments government ls numerous ventures into the electric light and power business of late unlike the TVA and other projects bustness business outlook la Is particularly good here tor for all of the power has been contracted for in advance income from the sale of electrical energy Is expected to exceed a year the water in the fhe reservoir will be ready long before the machinery the four intake towers through which the water enters the power plant checkered in design are the principal contrast to the broad white expanse of the dam itself which rises in a great triangle from the bottom of the canyon to assure obtaining of clear water they begin feet above the cailo colorados bed and will extend feet above world of caverns with no water running over the ibe top the face of the dam on the downstream side slopes in a steep and graceful curve bracing itself against the weight of the tremendous wall of water on the other side internally the dam Is a magic subterranean terra nean world of caverns boring their way into the rugged mountain ai T A M Z u X v M h 4 q aa it I 1 q A I 1 X 1 f Z X rf tl i 4 0 t 3 m Y Z i i 74 I 1 t i AJ river harnessed at boulder dam 1 the country horse power it will become the source of water supply for ar several large cities notably los anodes angeles len even more interested than los an geles in the nearing of the end Is the third largest city of nevada boulder city built I 1 in d the de desert sert six miles from the dam itself for the homes of the employees and their families its population of approximately souls will begin to dwindle until probably only the ghost of this comparative metropolis tro polis polls will remain when all the construction st work Is aver Ill resl sing UK like a gargantuan monument from the bed of the colorado up the steep mountain sides boulder dam Is s already the highest dam in the world by far nl though although workmen will still be busy completing the top of it when it begins operation taller than any sky scraper west of manhattan with the possible exception of oc one or two in chicago it towers feet above the bottom of black canyon when the reservoir Is filled a 60 50 story building would merely poke the up tip of its tower above the surface of the water seen in the perspective of the lofty peaks that cleave the clouds above the dam it would seem as the tip of a reed that grazes the bottom of your boat in a fishing pond huge artificial lake so huge Is the reservoir that will form one of the worlds largest artt arti lakes it will take three years to fill it will be miles long with a Eli shore oreline line of more than miles and will cover square miles at present the 66 canyon above the dani dam Is being cleaned out in preparation for the creation of the late lake leaving the canyon forever aie are a railroad an old concrete mixing plant and a large camp the colorado Is one of the most temperamental pe and inconsistent evers in the united states it drains approximately m one thirteenth of the country yet its flow varies from less than 2000 cubic feet a second at the lowest period to 0 im an all time high of cubic feet a second the flow now Is about it will not be until the spring floods that the reservoir in back of the dam begins to fill up while the dam has beeb built engineers have diverted the flow of the colorado around aroen d the project by means ot of artificial river beds cleft through the mountains one of these tunnels carries the whole flow now but at times four are ne eded they cannot canno t all be shut hut down at once to be begin gin building 9 up the reservoir because much of the shewa wa ter la Is needed for the ir irrigation alga alon of the Yuma I 1 and imperial i i valleys when the needs of irrigation have bave been met gates gatea being built la in the ne vada radii diversion tunnel will return the surplus burping to the reber voli them three diversion tunnels feet n diameter two of them hitie haye been ali filled led with plugs of concrete 35 0 raif long When the alv river has risen toa to a haig height ht bf MO feet the third channel which c to regulate the flow will follow the permanent structures huge pipelines 30 feet in diameter it will be ba june or july before there Is in sides of volcanic rock cast up from craters in prehistoric days entrance to the tunnels is effected through a cave opening of heroic proportions here Is the first of tiie the 30 foot piping that will feed water to the turbines from this the water rushing with all the force of its long fall enters the power house through secondary pipes 13 feet in diameter never has a construction job been speeded so swiftly more than cubic yards of concrete have been poured from the huge 10 ton buckets in strips 5 feet high it Is nearly a year and a half ahead of schedule the contractor says gone now Is the terror of the flood periods of the colorado colerado each of the two spillways spill ways of boulder dam could accommodate a rush of water of a vol there will still be floods on the colorado but now they can be held in check to a size that will not get beyond control probably no flow now will ever be M more ore than 4 cubic feet a second eca below the dam and cubic feerd feet vl second barth farther er down the river inthe in the irrigated sections irrigation most important of all the operations of the dam irrigation tion was perhaps held the most important by the lawmakers who appropriated the money for its construction although the average flow of the colorado Is cubic feet a second this dropped off to a mere trickle of 1700 cubic feet this year such a failure ot of water supply was the cause of almost irreparable losses in the Jer fertile tile fields of the imperial valley the pity of it Is that when the water of the river falls that Is just the time it Is most needed for irrigation had as aa much water been stored last spring its as will be next this loss would have been almost entirely wiped out in the opinion of engineers now the flood hood time waters will be arrested and held until th the e parched months of july and august during the summer months the dam will permit the passage of about 10 cubic feet of water per second into the val leys below holding the wintertime winter time flow to about cubic feet another constant threat to agriculture has been the large amounts of mud and silt carried down from the mountains by the colorado much of this silt was deposited in irrigation ditches where water to revive thirsty vegetation was sorely needed it has been estimated that tons of silt a minute were carried through the black canyon where boulder dam was situated removal of the silt deposits cost the farmers a pretty penny penn y now the huge basin behind the dam will catch most of the silt twenty four hours a day seven feve n days a week the crews are at work to bring all these benefits to the area served by the dam at the finish of their days labors the workers return to spotless cheery homes la in a city that sprang like a mirage in the desert it Is boulder city six miles from the liam the federal government because it owns all the land makes till all the tha rules for the inhabitants these rules are interpreted largely by the governments city man manager nger sims E ely ly efficiently managed the city manager issues all the bustness business permits in the city and no one can enter business without a permit there are neither too few business houses for prosperity nor too many mr ely has allowed two of a kind to come into the city at a time in order to keep down prices through competition always a sound plan in the era of ex es president herbert hoover for whom the dam Is sometimes called the number of business concerns are held down to what Is necessary to supply the needs of the community visitors cannot merely come and go in boulder city like in other towns united states marshals keep out all but those who have passes this reduces crime for undesirable persons never get a chance to commit crimes they dont get in there has been anly one crime in all boulder bitis history a holdup hold up its perpetrators were under sentence aen tence inside of two weeks transient visitors who appear to be law abad X ft n N 21 4 ax Z aa 11 R V 5 14 view looking down stream from the crest of boulder dargi time nine greater than the ordinary flow over niagara falls tills this Is necessary for when the river reached its peak flood flow of cubic feet a second SO 30 years ago laying waste vast areasia areas jn the wild antics of 0 its most wanton spree it was more destructive in its 16 rage than even a niagara turned loo loose se to batter the countryside atran dom pw Cali fornias rich imperial valley icing lying below the level of the river ind and further protected by levees may rest in relief from old fear floods are caused by the melting snows on the many mountains of the after the record break of low 1000 it took 18 months of labor on a vast scale and the expenditure of to return the river to its rightful bed ing citizens are given 24 hour passes which may bo be renewed the city manager was appointed by the secretary of the interior and was formerly associated with the development ot of the santa fe compact for the allocation of ef water from froin the colorado river he Is a kindly southerner and it Is his kindliness as well its as tits reau for wisdom and fair dealing which has bas earned for him a respect seldom accorded a man by his fellow citizens too the latter are frequently to be found in hla his office where they come to him fur for advice in the settlement of their family faintly problems it Is said that he has prevented many divorces by his bt patient attention and wise counsel 0 pter union |