The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-08-26

Activity at the Point Where the
Monster Dam Is Being Constructed
Will Soon Be Completed.
The Scranton Gas and Water COM
pany has force of men at work lay
ing a line of thrty-inch pipes from
the reservoir at Elmhurst to the pro-
posed reservoir at Dagen's farm, in
Roaring Brook township. Through this
water will pass to fill the big storage
reservoir which will probably be ready
for use in November. Those who have
been to the site of the new reservoir,
perched up in the mountains, will prob
ably be surprised to learn that it is
lower than the Elmhurst reservoir, and
water will pass from the latter to the
former without the use of pumps.
1t will require several miles OF the
immense pipes to make the connection
between the two reservoirs, but when
this work is completed the big storage
dam will be prepared for any kind of
an emergency. 1t is located on the
Stafford Meadow brook, and above it is
the Williams Bridge reservoir, and be-
low it the reservoir that supplies a
portion of the South Side.
Fearing the slender thread of water
that ripples through the channel of the
Stafford Meadow brook would be in
sufficient to supply an abundance of
water for these three reservoirs the
company decided to pipe some of the
surplus water from the Roaring brook
at Elmhurst to the Dagen farm reser-
voir and insure an unfailing supply.
Through tunnel water from the new
reservoir can be drawn into the citys
main distributing reservoir at No. {. or
1T can be sent down along the natural
channel of the Stafford Meadow brook
in such quantities as may be needed
to the reservoir that supplies the South
Side.
THE BIG DAM.
If one would gaze upon a scene of
hustle and activity these sultry days,
scene such as one sees very infre-
quently, save in America, let him cross
the East mountain and pay a visit to
the Dagen farm, where the Gas and
Water company is erecting the dam
that will create the largest artificial
lake in Pennsylvania, and one of the
largest in the United States. The lake
will be five miles in circumference and
large enough and deep enough to float
all the vessels that Admiral Sampson
had in his Santiago squadron.
Burke Brothers have the contract
for the erection of the DAM and dur
ing the open season for three years
they have had hundreds of men work.
ing for them in the construction of this
monster piece of masonry Practically
all of the material for the work is
found right on the ground. On the
mountain east of the reservoir a fine
grade of conglomorate rock was dis
covered and to facilitate the work of
hauling the stone to the scene of ope-
rations a railroad was built from the
dam to the quarry. over this the
stone is carried on fiat cars, a small
locomotive being used for the purpose.
Down in the bed Of the reservoir an
other railroad has been laid, and over
this little locomotive puffs and
screams as it pushes a trip of dirt cars
up a stiff grade, carrying the clay
used to support the core wall which
forms the western end of the dam. A
big steam shovel scoops the clay out
of the side of the banks of the reservoir
after it has been loosened by explod-
ing powder and transfers it to the lit
tie cars.
Thousands upon thousands of cubic
yards of earth are needed to do the
filling on either side of the core wall.
1t is one of the big pieces of work in
connection with the construction of the
dam, but fortunately there is no lack
of material. All of the earth for filling
is taken out of the bed of the reservoir,
thus increasing it's storage capacity to
the extent Of the material removed.
MANUFACTURE SAND.
When the work of laying the walls
for the dam began Burke Brothers
could find no sand of a suitable quail
ity in the vicinity of the work They
found stone, however that was cap
able of being ground into sand and
they set to work to utilize it. A crush
er and grinder We're set up close to
the dam and since then all the sand
required has been made on the spot.
This saved the necessity of hauling
sand number of miles, which would
have been an expensive operation.
To get a good idea of the immense
size of this dam it is necessary to
stand on top of it and look down the
wall of massive blocks of conglomerate 10
to the ground a distance of eighty feet,
The wall is fifty-siX feet wide at the
bottom and twelve feet on top. Down
in the valley below the workmen as
sumo the proportions of pigmies and
the locomotive seems more like a toy
than an engine of utility. AS it pushes
a big train Of cars up the tortuous
road that leads to the core wall, how
ever, one is convinced that it is some
thing very much different than a toy
he is gazing at.
voir from the dam, nearly two miles
away, other workmen are delving into
the rock constructing the tunnel
through which water will pass to the
No. reservoir.