HUGE POWER DAM

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3467, 20 October 1913, Page 3

HUGE POWER DAM

AN ENGINEERING WONDER. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28. Spoken of somewhat grandiloquently as ‘‘one of the engineering wonders of tho world,” and in fact an undertaking of magnitude and importance, a great dam cross.the Mississippi river by means of which 300,000 horse-pow-er of. electricity is generated, has just, been dedicated for use. The dam spans tho river between Keokuk, in the State of lowa and Hamilton, in Illinois, joining those two towns. It will supply power for manufacturing and lighting purposes to towns within a radius of several hundred miles, ministering particularly to the inhabitants of lowa, Illinois, and Missouri. With the one exception of the irrigation structure across the Nilo at Assouan it is the longest bank-to-bank dam in the world. Its length is 1568 feet. The dam represents the labor of three years, and an expenditure of slightly, over £5,000,000. It is built of solid concrete. The width is 1911 at the top and 42ft at the base, and the total height is 53ft. Power generated at the dam will Ire sent over transmission wires to scores of cities within its range. Transmission lines are already operating from the dam to St. Louis, a distance of 137 miles south. The prospect of cheap power is expected to work an industrial revolution in the adjacent States.. . Since the project was taken, up the growth of cities and towns in this section of the Mississippi Valley has been marked. Scores of manufacturers have sought and obtained sites where they can he certain of a cheap and neverfailing power to run their machines. Hundreds of miles of electric railway have been built to be operated with power from the dam, and even the smallest villages along tho river now have their electric light companies. The power house is a gigantic affair, 2300 ft long and as high as the ordinary twelve-storey building. It- contains thirty specially-designed turbines, each of 10,000 horse-power A shipping lock 110 ft wide, with a lift of 10ft, is another feature of the project. The lock gates are 1,000,000d> steel trusses, operated by pneumatic machinery. The dam was constructed by private capital, hut the shipping lock is a free gift to the Government and people of lowa by the company.