The Saint Paul globe., 1899-07-16

the south side, while on the north It will
B cling to colossal buttress of granite, un-
ft11, at its extreme height, it will be nearly
5OO feet across its face. 1t will be located
just. below the entrance to wild gorge,
whose almost perpendicular walls rise to
height of nearly 500 feet, which the wa
ters have, in unnumbered years of the
past, hair 8 breadth by hairs breadth
worn through almost adamantine granite.
NO citizen of Denver need ever waste
one minute on misgiving as to the
strength and durability of the dam itself.
Tor, owing to the conformation of the
mighty gorge the structure will be sup
ported and backed up by the everlasting
granite. At the angle at which it will be
situated the bulk of the weight Of the
waters behind it will rest. not upon the
material built up by man, but upon
hundreds of feet of indestructible granite
nodded and shaped by the great master
mason, nature, in its widest, most way
ward moments. The dam, which will be
constructed almost parallel to the left
side of the valley above, will be hidden
from view in the valley itself by a round
ed breast Of granite 470 feet in thickness.
The face of the structure will be an i'm
perV1ouS shield of steel standing at an an
gle OF one-half to one. This will be
made up Of about 1,130 steel plates, each
10 feet by 5 and three-eighths of an inch
thick, all thoroughly coated with asphalt,
for applying which a special dipping
plant is now in operation on the grounds,
These great plates will be securely rivet-
ed to huge steel beams, which will be
deeply imbedded in the living granite
and Will extend from the very bottom to
the top of the dam. The anchorages to
the side walls and bottom Of the canyon
will be extra heavy steel beams, bolted
each inches by Pinch split bolts to the
face Of the granite, in which holes a
foot In depth will be drilled and into
which the bolts will be driven by heavy
sledge hammers. The bolts will be fur
ther secured by cement, which will also
cover all the tnterstices Of the anchor
ages Behind this steel facing will be
feet of the very highest grade cement
laid by the most expert masons. Behind
this again will be Is feet of hand-laid
granite blocks. Backing all this up will
be shattered granite powders, which will
be hurled from the top and sides of the
! gorge by giant powder or droI q d into
! the chasm from low cars which will be
run out upon a unique bridge now being
| constructed across the gorge at a height
| of 200 feet. The fall of these masses of
granite, nearly all of which will weigh
| tons upon tons, will shatter them into
/ fragments and cause the pieces to y
! packed even more closely than human
hands could possibly place them. For
| the first 100 feet of height the dam will
! be made to measure 240 feet from heel
! to toe, and for the total height Of 210
feet it will be over 600 feet in thickness.
Inc dam will be further strengthened by
| backing up against gigantic wall of
granite at the angles of the gorge.
To provide an exit for the surplus wa
| terS when the reservoir shall be full
three outlets have been prepared The
first and most important of these is
! through a great tunnel, cut through the
40 feet of granite which forms the north
buttress. This tunnel is feet wide and
feet high through its upper half and 8
feet wide by feet high in the lower half
of its length. This, it is certain, will be
| ample to carry the normal flow of both
| the Platte river and Goose creek, with
space for any flood waters which may
come. In the center of this huge tunnel
is lateral gallery IS feet long, feet
! nigh and u feet broad, blasted at right
| angles on either side Of the main bore
This gallery provides space for the giant
twin valves, weighing twenty-five tons.
which are being laid in 1irst-grade ce-
ment under the supervision of Master
mason TooVey. They will be operated by
hydraulic pressure through lead-Iined
steel pipes laid in solid cement and car
r1ed to an engine house on the top of the
mountain. The valves are braced in no.
sltlon by huge steel truss beams i'm
bedded three and one-half feet at the top
and bottom in the solid granite, and in
the very finest concrere. Gigantic and
costly as these are. they will be of only
secondary Importance. as the main reli-
ance will be placed on an eighteen-ton
tour-part valve, which will be firmly i'm
pedded In the granite at the entrance to
the tunnel, and which VIII also be oper-
ated by hydraulic pressure Ordinarily
Xra1xr rxrJ11
bear the weight of the water of the res
erVolr' while the great inner valves VIII