The Washington critic., 1889-06-13
IT WAS BUILT BY CONTRACT.
The Johnstown Dam Was Not Devised
by an Engineer-Never Inspeoted.

ny Hu OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES hhbDtCttus
The Engineering Nc,cs will publish
the results of q survey and examination
of the Johnstown dam and of inquiries
in Johnstown and Pittsburg by which
various facts not yet made public were
asccrtaincd.
The first break in the dam occurred
In July, 1862, and was caused by dc
feet in the culvert, through which two
feet discharge pipes. were carried for
letting out water from the bottom of the
reservoir. This break did compare.
lively little damage. Enough of the
dam remained to make little pond
about eight feet deep above the dam,
which was unused until in May, 1875,
when the property, consisting Of some.
what over five hundred acres, was sold
to Congressman John REILLY. The lake
| itself was 400 acres In size.
After holding the property until 1879,
| Mr.. Reilly offered II TO the late Colonel
| b. +. Ruff, railroad and tunnel contrac-
| tor and the originator of the South Fork
Fishing and Hunting Club, for 1000.
| Colonel Ruff interested two other Pitts
burg gentlemen in the project and told
| them that the dam could be recon-
structed for 81 800, and that he would
| take contract TO do IL for 81 700 On
| this basis the club was organized, and
for some time these three gentlemen
were the only persons In IT, Not one
of them is now connected with 1t.
Colonel Ruif's idea had been TO re-
construct the dam much lower, only
forty feet high, but 1t soon appeared
that to cut down the spillway or waste
weir, which Is through rock, would
| cost more than TO reconstruct the dam TO
its Original height, and by the time
this had been done the total expendi-
turc, as shown by the pay rolls, had
been slightly over $4,000 There still
remained the work of riprapping the
slopes and other miscellaneous work,
bringing the total cost up to $4,000.
This work was all done in the summer
of 1880. The original dam was esti.
mated to cost $1SS,000, and actually
cost nearly $240,000.
Colonel Ruff engaged as foreman and
superintendent for this work Edward
Peirson. He has never been an en-
gineer, but, after 1880, was employed in
the local freight department Of the
Pennsylvania Railroad at Pittsburg.
Our information is positive that at no
time during the process of rebuilding
the dam was any engineer, young or
old, good or bad, known or unknown,
engaged in or consulted as TO the work,
a fact that will be hailed by engineers
everywhere with satisfaction rs reliev-
ing them rs body from heavy burden
of suspicion and reproach. The pre-
cautions taken against failure were only
such as an old railroad contractor
knowledge of hydraulic engineering in.
dicatcd were admissible without further
increasing a contemplated investment OF
$3,700, which had to be increased al
last by over $4,000.
The work of reconstruction was done
with the slight care which these facts
make probable. The old material,
which had caved in, was left un.
touched, the top of the dam was
worked down on to il, the old pipes
and culvert, which still remained in Q
somewhat injured condition, were GOV
cred over with earth and permanently
closed, double row hemlock plank
sheet piling being driven across the old
channels. The water, during recon
struction, was carried across the dan
in n broad flume, which was raised
from time to time as the work pro
gressed There was no careful ram
ming in watered layers, as in the frs
dam, although some say there was some
ramming. Leaking during the process
was great, and some tons Of hay ant
straw were filed in to stop it. Tht
dam was finally made fairly tight, bu
always leaked at the bottom, and O.
late years the leakage has been incrcas
| ing,