BOULDER DAM.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20483, 8 December 1934, Page 11

BOULDER DAM.

American Engineers’ Big Feat. RESERVOIR 115 MILEf LONG. The great Boulder Dam. said to bcthe largest structure of its kind in the World, and one which it is hoped will transform the country for hundreds of miles round, is to be completed next year. By holding the waters of the Colorado River in leash during the flood period, and making that excess available for the dry season, some 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. The undertaking has three major divisions—the dam itself in Black Canyon; the huge power plant at the base of the dam; and the new allAmerican 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 build a railway line and provide a new city to give living facilities 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 165 million dollars, 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 Los 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 10ft. 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 3330 million 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 ft above bedrock, which will raise the water level of the river 584 ft. The thickness of the dam will be 650 ft at the base, tapering to £>ft at the top. The width of the clam at the crest will be 1180 ft.