The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-08-21
500 CANAL FINISHED
REGARDED AS MOST MAGNET
CENT OF ITS KIND.
Is a Triumph Of Genius-Hopes Of
n. F. Clergue Realized After
Four Years and His Expen-
diture of $4,000, 900.


final stroke by which the waters of Lake
Superior will be turned into the broad.
deep. smooth channel. and soon thereaf-
ter the wheels of immense industries will
begin to turn under the power of the
mighty flow. This will be accomplished
in few days after the work shalt have
been thoroughly inspected by f. H.
Clergue. president of the Michigan-Lake
Superior Company.
Divides City Into Two Parts.
Like an immense river. 200 feet broad.
and deep enough to float the biggest YES
sci that sails the lakes. It divides Sault
Ste. Marie into a city of two parts. with
the island portion. now for the first time
completely surrounded by water, the bus
mess section and the balance of the city
being given over to the homes of it's cit
liens. In the future. when the 500 shall
have achieved the greatness for which 1t
Is destined. 1t is altogether likely that
every foot of the property included in
what is already becoming known as 1.-THE
island will be devoted exclusively to bus
mess.
The canal is two and a third miles long,
from the mouth of the lake above the
rance to the ship canals. The average
width Is 224 feet. and the depth is twenty
two feet. The intake has an area of more
than 1900 square feet, through which
will flow volume which is estimated to
be 10000 cubic feet per second, with a
velocity of about two feet per second
or about one and half miles per hour.
The entrance is S9l feet wide and eigh-
teen feet deep. In its excavation some
100000 cubic yards of material were re-
moved.
Cut Through Solid Rock.
At point about 1000 feet east of the
entrance the intake merges into the canal
proper the dimensions of which are out
lined above. A cross section of the canal
at this point measures 4.425 square feet.
Il
point the canal Is cut through solid rock.
In cutting out the channel through this
rock formation the sides were first cut
out by channeling machines The rock
was then drilled. blasted and excavated
and the sides wherever rough were
smoothed off with Portland cement. The
bed was similarly finished. The immense
labor necessary to accomplish this can
be scarcely comprehended. The appear
ance of the canal bed before the water
was turned in was smooth as the exte-
rior of ctone building.
For the balance of the distance the
canal traverses a formation of sand.
gravel and clay, the excavation of which
was not attended by such difficulties.
From the point where the rock formation
leaves off to the entrance to the power
house, the sides and bottom of the canal
have been planked with the very best
hemock timber to be found in Northern
Maine. At n point below the water line
the timbering ceases, and the remainder
of the sides is paved with rock. Above
that the banks are beautifully sodded.
and a row of trees recently planted at
the company's expense borders each side
of the great water way.
To Reduce Friction.
The object of planking beneath the va
ter is to reduce the friction, thus seclr-
ing as large fall as possible at the
point where the water power Is secured
The lower 5000 feet of the canal Is on a
fs.N,,s g Oh flxAD dAe
The construction of the portion of the
canal which traverses earth necessitated
the removal OF 800, 900 cubic yards of ma
terial and $4,000, 900 feet of timber were
used in flooring and sides of the canal.
The canal In its course through the city
crosses thirteen streets. and at the pres
emit time is spanned by five steel bridges,
one more is under construction. and 9TH
ers are projected by the city for the flu
ture as business demands them. At the
lower end the canal widens out into the
forebaY, or mill pond. for the purpose Of
securing sufficient frontage for the uni
form distribution of the water to all of
the turbines, which are installed along the
river face of the forebay in the power
house Because of this expansion the wa
ter issuing from the canal will at once
dispense and enter the turbines at a We
locity of two feet per second.
Massive Power-House.
The river front of the forebay is closed
which cannot be found in the United
States. 1t is constructed of red sand
stone. is forty-eight feet over a quarter
of mile in length, Is 100 feet wide and
1875 feet high. The massive building sets
upon a foundation of piles covered by
log sills and caps and covered with Port
lar d cement concrete to a depth Of three
feet. The cost of building this foundation
alone represents snug little fortune.
The sub-structure consists of eighty-one
ms walls % feet high
and feet thick. The stalls or pits thus
formed, aside from supporting the build
ing. serve to deliver the water from the
turbines into the river
The penstocks are all of uniform dimen-
sions, forty feet long, fifteen feet wide
and twenty feet high. The dynamo floor
occupies space on the same floor on the
river side of the power house. The floor
above Is used for the machinery, which
converts the energy Of the water into
electrical power.
To Develop Great Energy.
The energy to be developed by this inn
mense engineering achievement is esti-
mated at 10000 actual horse power. devel-
oped by 800 turbines OF the Mccormick
type -Four of these turbines in pairs are
placed in each penstock. All of the tur-
bines are Joined to one high shaft of
pressed steel and are housed i'm iron
cases. leaving no openings save for the
passage of water The water enters the
passes through the draft tubes below
each turbine, thence into the pits and
from there into the river. As the rush of
water passes through The turbines the
wheels revolye. that in turn revolves the
big shaft, and thus the power Is produced
to turn the dynamos awaiting on the
floor above.
The electrical equipment of the power
house "'tsISts of clgntf dynamos con-
structed by the Westinghouse company
After converting the water power into
electrical power the latter will he trans
mitted by feed wires to the doors of the
various plants. which are either in course
of construction or projected, and which
are expected to use the power produced,
Among other things the power will be
used to light the streets of the 500 and
to propel its street cars.
Movable Dam Feature.
An interesting side feature Of the canal
is the big movable dam constructed at the
head of the canal to control the volume
of water. This was built by the Detroit
Bridge Company, and the completed struc-
ture II is estimated. represents cost of
not less than 100000. The dam Is male
up of four leaves" fifty feet long and
twenty-eight feet high. suspended from
and operated between piers and solid ma
sonry. When the water Is entering the
canal freely these leaves are suspended,
and when it is desired to stop the flow,
the leaves are lowered against a Sill in
the canal bed.
Still another interesting feature is the
ice rack, which occupies space just
at the entrance to the forebay. This Is
d 1signcd to intercept the ice, logs or
other distractions which may find way
into the canal and divert them into Il
subway through wnich they are conduct
ed into the river.
One of the serious problems which con-
fronted the engineers in planning the
canal was the question. the effect of
INN