Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1892-08-10
Tho niagara Fails Tunnel.

For nearly TWO years Sllall alH'y
Of men have been delving away at
Niagara Falls day and night away
down in the bowels of the earth blast
ing away great masses of rock with
dynamite. then loosening them up with
hicks and loading the material in cars
to be carried away TO the surface. On
Oct T. 1890, the great Niagara Falls
tunnel was begun, and on Oct. 4, 1872,
this army will have forced a passage
way 5000 feet in length through solid
,ocI, which for ages has held back the
torrents of the Niagara River. This
viii leave only 900 feet to be blasted
10 complete the work as originally in
tended. ri,
have made much greater progress than
,bcy anticipated, and will, if nothing
unto,scen occurs, finish their work
lone before the allotted time. There
are 800 men ON the pay roll, and an
actual working force of 800 men, divld-
"d into two shifts. are working, one by
day and the other by night, so that the
work ncyerstops except for meal hours.
Ten hours on and ten oh'is the daily
routine for eachman. Itmakes no differ
nnce 10 him whether he works at night
or in the DAYTIME, for way down in the
eartb's bosom where he tolls the dark
ness is not disturbed by single ray OF
sunlight. Little wires threading the
noth of the great holes give out here
and there dim sparks of electric light
which twinkle like stars in the gloom.
On an average 400 pounds of dyna-
mite are used every 24 hours, or car
load every 16 days. Enough dynamite
10 blow New York to kingdom come,
if jfcarelessly exploded on Broadway, Is
touched of down in the tunnel every
week. This deadly explosive is re-
ceiyed at the work in frozen state
and stored in big magazine. From
this receptacle it is taken TO the thaw
house as needed. The thaw house is q
building separate from all others. Eight
feet away from it is q tire-proof stove
house. and heat is generated in the
thaw house by means of hot water.
The vast amount of work that re-
mains to be done is q light task COM
pared with what has already been ac-
complished. The great water race in
which the huge turbine wheels will
turn will be an elongated eX-
cavation accommodating four of the
wheels in a row. The wheel pit
will be about 10 feet deep from the
surface of the ground to the point of
discharge from the wheels. The actual
water head will be about 40 feet. The
canal which is to admit the water from
the river to the wheel pits is more than
100 feet wide. and will have n water
denth of twelve feet. This chan
mel is fully half cxcavated, and the
massive walls which will compose its
sides and contain the gates for the con-
troll of the water supply, are progress
inc with all possible speed.
The undertaking of the Iun1el
Power Company has stimulated the Nj
aqara Falls Hydraulic Canal Company,
and their old raceway is being dredgcd
to carry depth oftwelve feet ofwater,
about fftv feet wide. The wheels will
be placed on the company property on
the river bank not far from the mouth
of the new tunnel. There is little room
for factories there, but a huge battery
of dvnamos will be arranged for the
conversion of the enormous power into
electric force. In this manner, it is
claimed, it is possible to developnearly
as much power as the tunnel enter
prise now promises.