Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1889-06-13
THAT FATAL DAM.
The Opinion Of m Expert rs to Its safesS
and Proper Construction.


The Opinion Of nm Expert rs to lts eatesy
and Proper Construction.
JoHNsTowN, Pa, June a-A NJ Well
ington. one of the most noted civil engin-
eers Of the country, and q. P. Burt asso-
ciate editor Of the Engineering News or
New York, have just completed an exam
in nation u the dam which caused the great
disaster here.
Wellington states that the dam was in
every respect of inferior construction and
of a kind wholly unwarranted by good
engineering practices of thirty years ago.
Both the original and reconstructed
dams were of earth only with
no heart wall, but only riprapped
on the slope. The original dam,
however, was made in rammed and
watered layers, which still showed dis
tinctly in the wrecked dam 1t was
better than the new and greatly
added to its stability, but it was
to all appearance simply dumped in
like an ordinary railroad I'LL or. II
rammed, shows no evidence OF good effect
from it. Much of the old part is standing
intact while adjacent parts of the new
work are wholly carried of. There was
no central wall of puddle or masonry
either in the new or old dam. 1t has been
the inYariable practice of engineers for
thirty or forty years to use one or the
other in building high dams of earth II
is doubtful if there is a single other dam or
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 ignorance
or carelessness in having been made
nearly two feet lower in the middle than
at the ends. 1t 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.
Had the break begun at the ends, the cut
of the water would have been so gradual
that little or no harm might have resulted.
Had the dam been at once cut at the ends
when the water began running over the
center the sudden break of the dam would
| have been at least greatly diminished,
| possibly prolonged, so that little harm
would have resulted. The crest of the old
dam had not been raised in the reconstruc-
| tion 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 vio-
lated the most elementary and universally
understood requirements of good prac-
! 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 protection
! 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 so there was little evidences of it in
the broken dam. The riprapping was
merely q skin on each face, with more or
less loose spauls mixed with the earth.
The dam was y ieet above the water, 2 to
1 inside slope, IL to l 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 a dam if it was to be
built at ali, being of a clayey nature, max
ing good puddle. To this the fact of its
standing intact since 1881 must be as
cribed, as no engineer Of standing would
| have ever tried to so construct it The
fact that the dam was reconstructed one
after over twenty years abandonment
| made it especially hard on the older part
of the dam to withstand the pressure of
;he water.
At South Fork dam the community is in
wild state of excitement as result Of
! the food. The blame OF the entire affair
mas been placed upon the South Fork
| Hunting and Fishing Club, and so
angry are some of the people that
| trouble is feared for w. s. Boyer, su-
perintendent of arrangements on the
lake. Some of the cottages have been
broken into by marauders and the furni-
ture demolished. The boats owned by the
club have been stolen in broad daylight
and reduced to slindling wood by the in
furiated crowd.