The Saint Paul globe., 1900-06-03
DAMS At NEEKER ISLAND
THEY MAY DRIVE STEAM LOCO
MOTIVE FROM NMGHBoR-
HOOD OF THE TWINS
VISION OF AN ENGINEER
Recent Transmutation of the Fa-
ther of Waters Into a HauIer
OF Street Cars Discussed
at Engineers, Club.

The construction Of the dam across the
Mississippi at Minneapolis for the utiliza-
ton of water power in generating cleo
| trcity for the use of the Twin City Rap
i'd Transit company and the results of
careful study Of the methods in use was
the basis Of an instructive paper which
was recently presented at a session Of
| the Northwest Railway club In Mime
apolis by the consulting electrical en-
| gineeer, Edward P. Burch. The paper,
which was read. at that session, is one
| which shows many interesting facts con-
corning the difficulties IN applying the
river power for the generation of cleo
| trict power and which shows the excel
lent results attained, The construction
of the dam ranks as an engineering feat
of note. Mr.. Burch says concerning the
| achievement of Harvesting the Father of
| Waters:
| SIT is well known that within a few
years a new dam has been constructed
| in this city across the Mississippi river
| just below st. Anthony falls that cleo
tricity has; been generated by the power
! produced at sthe dam, and that the power
has been utilized for the electric railway
system of Minneapolis and st. Paul
| '"The source of power is the upper Mis-
sissippi river peculiar stream; generally
quiet and governable, yet at times of
! flood apparently beyond control. The
howage characteristics have been aver
aged year after year until we are certain
of the geherap nature of the annual
| changes.
|
1.-THE fioWagej changes materially during
the different Z seasons. The summer
fowage Is several times greater than the
winter fiowage. There Is commonly a
second flood in September, after which the
amount of water gradually decreases as
cold weather comes on
I ''These characteristics of fowage are
! changing quite materially. The United
| States government Is constructing per-
manent dams at the outlets Of the great
swampy lakes on the upper Mississippi,
| thus forming immense reservoirs.
within 5heElimits of the Twin Cities
| the Mississippi has a fall of over 10 feet.
| Just above the city limits there Is what
is known as Coon Rapids, where there
! IS a fall OF. twenty feet. This power
| has not been developed. Between the
| Minneapolis Western railroad bridge at
| Eleventh avenue south MINNEAPOLIS. and
| Fort Smelling bridge in st. Paul. there is
fail of forty feet, along which the gov
| ernment has laid out and is now con-
structing locks and dams.
! The main ST Anthony falls. with q fall
! of fifty feet, have been utilized for forty
years. With normal summer howage,
| 5000 cubic feet per second, about %. 600
mechanical horse power, are available.
and are used, largely for -four manufac-
| turing.
st. Anthony rapids, just below the
main falls, have been developed within
the last few years. The construction of
dam below what was formerly known
as the ''rapads'' (now known as the low
er poWer) had been in the minds of cap
italists and engineers for many years.
with normal summer f1owage 1t was es-
t1mated that "a. dam giving a twenty foot
fall could develop 1000 horse power.
The riparian owners, st. Anthony Falls
Water Power company, having procured
ample English capital, their hydraulic
engineer, William de la Barre, started
the construction of this new lower dam
at st. Anthony falls in May. 1895 The
work was finished and turned over to an
operating company JAN 1, 1898.
The power station forms 200 feet Of the
| dam. Inside It is one large room 25o feet
! long, and from 45 to So feet wide, and so
| feet high inside. The station is heated
by electric heaters; a twenty-ton travel
| ing crane Is provided.
The station is built on solid sand rock.
First a esncrete base, the present tail
race foorz and foundation for tail-race
arches, wss laid two feet thick under
the poweES Sstation. The top Of ten tall
race arahe5 forms the floor or substruc-
ture of the station. The turbine cham
bers and 1he tail-race arches are spaced
horizontally twenty feet apart from cen
ter to eefUer. Large sluice gates allow
| by-passSfor the water in front of the
| chambers to3the race below. In front of
the entrance to the turbine chambers,
| structural steel framework is formed to
support the racks, to prevent the en-
trance of floating logs, bark and ice
| In the water chambers ten large tur-
bine units were installed
/ Each 1850 horse power turbine is d.
| rectly connected to a coo horse power
| electric generator, the tu. bine shaft pass
! ing through a Hater-tight fume cover
1 into the generating room. Ten LOCO horse