HUGE BOULDER DAM

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1934, Page 5

HUGE BOULDER DAM

GREAT ENGINEERING FEAT.

LARGEST IN THE WORLD.

By the last mail Mr. J. Norrie, the chief public librarian of Wellington, who is at present in the United States, forwarded to Mr. M. Cable, Wellington tramways manager, particulars of .the great Boulder Dam, said to be the largest structure of its kind in the world and one which it is, hoped will transform the country for hundreds of miles round.

By holding the waters of the Colorado River in leash during the flood period, and making that .excess available for the dry season, two million acres of land will come under irrigation. It will do that and still provide domestic water for ten million people in Southern California. Authority for the construction of the dam was given by President Hoover in June, 1929, and ever since then the work has gone on without delay until it is now reaching a stage when the end is in view. This will come some time in 1936.

The undertaking has three major divisions—the dam itself in Black Canyon; the huge power plant at the base of the dam; the new all-American canal, the waterway that is to irrigate the whole of the Imperial Valley. The reservoir to be created by the dam will be the largest artificial lake in the world. It will be 115 miles in length, with a maximum breadth of eight miles, and with a shore line of 550 miles. As a preliminary to the building of the dam it was necessary to bdild a railway line and provide for the thousands of workers, their wives and children. That is Boulder City. It was built complete out of the bare desert within a few months. It is estimated that the dam will cost £33,000,000, including the building of the city and the waterway, but that is really only half the amount that' will -be - expended, as bond issues totalling 22 million dollars have already been issued for the construction of. the great Lbs Angeles aqueduct, which is going to conduct water for domestic purposes over mountains and across deserts, a distance of 265 miles—a greater distance than between Wellington and Napier. The waters of the dam will cover 145,000 acres of territory, or 227 square miles. It is said that the water to be confined would cover the whole of the State of Connecticut to a depth of ten feet.

The giant power plant just below the falls will have a capacity of over 1,800,000 horse-power energy. This is approximately twice as much as the total combined energy developed at Niagara Falls and Muscle Shoals. There will be available upon completion of the plant an annual output of constant electric energy amounting to 3,330,000,000 kilowatt hours, which will be transmitted to various parts of Arizona, Nevada and California, and possibly other States.

When finished the Boulder Dam will be the highest in the world. Its height will be 727 feet above bedrock, which will raise the water level of the river 584 feet. The thickness of the dam will be 650 feet at the base, tapering to 45 feet St the top. The width of the dam at the crest will be 1180 feet.