Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-06-13

a.d PFspsr Csaskr1ssisA
JoauoToWx, Pa, J@s A u Wsll>
iDgton. one q the most nooed civil euEfn-
se1s Of the country, aud T. p. Brk assc-
ciste editor Of the Engf2ssriDE News Of
New York, have Just completed IN exam-
inasion Of the dan which enssd tAs great
disaster hex9
Wel6netou ,<.tes thse ths ssu was in
every respect ef infeTtur construction and
Of kind wholly unwarTanted by good
engineering practices Of thirty years ago
Both tie original and reconstructed
dams were Ct eaY1k saiy with
no hssrt wall, bas suly FiPrsppe6
On the slope. Ths original dam.
however. was made in ranned and
watered layers, which still shewed dis-
tinstly in the w1seked dan Il was
better than the new and greatly
added to its stssility, hut it WAS
to - se1peafaaes fsionpfX .drnp>d in
-ffkS' a ofdihsry s4firos8 al or. il
rammed, shows no evidences ef good e6eee
from it. Kush Of tbs sh pazf - Standing
intact wkile adjacent parts Of the new
work are wholly carried oH. There was
no central wzn Of puddle or masonry
either m the new sr old dam It has bee0
the invariahle practice ef engineers fer
thirty Or forty years to use enc or the
other in baflding high dams OF earth lt
is doubtful il there - q single other dam er
reservoir in any other part Of the United
States OF over fifty feet high which lacks
this central wall. The reconstructed dam
also bears the marks OF great ignoranee
or careless1ess in having been msdee
nearly two feet lower in the middle than
ut the ends. Is should rather have been
crowned in the middle which would have
concentrated the overflow, il it should
occur, at the ends instead Of the center.
n fEar - 81
OF the water would have been 50 gradual
that little or NO harm might have resulted
Had the dam been at once cut 1t the ends
when the water began running over the
center the sudden break OF the dam woui6
have been at least greatly diminished,
possibly prolonged SO that little harm
would have resulted The crest sf the old
dam had not been raised in the recoastrne-
ton of 1881.
Wellington said that no engineer Of
known and good standing for such work
could possibly have been engaged On it,
since in the particulars mentioned it viR-
lated the most elementary and universally
understood requirements of good pr4c-
tice. He did not believe that any other
dam of equal height had ever been con-
structed in this country wholly OF earth
without some kind of special proseefioa
against leakage or abrasion by water in
the center of the dam. The estimates OF
the original dam indicated that it was
made Of about half earth and half rock,
but if 50 there was little evidenee Of it in
the broken dam The riprapping was
merely skin on each face, with more or
less loose spauls mixed with the earth.
The dam was = feet above the water. . to
I inside slope, IL to 1 outside slope.
20 feet wide on top. The rock through
out was about one foot below the
surface. The earth was pretty good
material for such q dam il it was to be
built at all, being of a clayey nature. maxi
ing good puddle. To this the fact Of its
standing intact since 1881 must be as
cribed, no engineer of standing would
have ever tried to so construct it The
fact that the dam was areconstr1cted q one
after over twenty years. abandonment
made it especially hard on the older part
of the dam to withstand the pressure ef
the water.
At South Fork dam the community 10 In
q wild state Of excitement as result Of
the food The blame OF the entire affair
has been placed upon the South Fork
Hunting and Fishing Club, and 50
angry are some OF the people that
trouble 10 feared for ". q. Boyer, SUI
perfntendent Of arrangements On thu
lake. Some of the cottages hare been
broken into by marauders and the furni-
ture demolished The hosts owned by the
club have been stolen in broad dayfigh4
and reduced to kindIing wood by the iA-
furiated crowd