Bisbee daily review., 1903-08-04
IRRIGATION DAN
 LARGEST IN WORLD
GOVERNMENT ENGINEER DIS
cusses SALT RIVER PROJECT

cUSSES SALT RIVER PROJECT Federal Experts Meeting in Denver
 to Discuss Plans for the Reclama-
 ton of the Arid Lands of the West.
 Denver, Colo, Aug. 3.-The highest reservoir dam in the world and a reservoir three times larger than any in the United States was graphically described last night by the expert government engineer in charge of it's construction.
 The Great Salt river dam in Ari- zona, one of the most prodigious and important irrigation projects ever undertaken by the Unitef States government, is closely akin in character to reclamation undertak- ings in Colorado Arthur Pow ell Davis, who investigated the fea- sibility of the dam and who is s'l- perintendent of its construction, is al the Adams. in attendance upon the conference of government ea- giners- which will last the greater portion of the current week. MT. Davis is the author of the booklet on Water Storage on Salt River, Arizona"
 Conversing fluently upon the gigan- tean project for which he is in so large a measure responsible, MT. Pow ell said:
 Fifteen years ago the highest dam in the world was in France. Its height was 172 feet Since that time three dams far larger have been com menced in the United States and are now nearing completion. These are the Croton dam for the water supply of Boston and the Cheesman dam for the water supply of Denver. When completed. each of these dams will hold a record in some particular. The Croton dam will contain the larg- est amount of masonary. the Chees- man dam will be the highest and the Clinton dam will store the largest quantity of water.
 The Largest in the World.
 When completed the proposed Sal: river dam will be the highest dam in the world and will store three times as much water as all three of these reservoirs put togsthe4 its height from lowest foundations being about 270 feet, and it's storage capacity be- ing about 1,300,000 acre feet of water. or sufficient to cover 1.300.00 acres feet of water, or sufficient to cover 1,300.000 acres one foot in depth.
 One of the great difficulties in the construction of this dam is the scarci- ty of fuel for developing the vast amount of power for construction. This will be obviated by the develop ment of water power. A still greater difficulty is it's inaccessibility and the consequent high cost of importing over 100000 barrels of cement which will be required in the construction
 The heavy freight cost will bring the price of imported cement to nea-- lys10 per barrel. The cement costs s1.4O per barrel at the factory in Gre ton, California. This cost will be obviated considerably by the manu- ufacture of the necessary cement al the site of the dam from materials found in the vicinity.
 Government to Make Cement.
 The government investigations have shown that this is entirely fea- sible. Several samples of cement have been actually manufactured and tested, proving it to be true Port land cement of superior quality. This discovery alone saves more than ST. 100000 in the cost of the dam
 The entire cost of the project, in- cluding power development and pumping machinery will be about s3.- 100000 About 200. 900 acres of land have already been pledged to the return of the cost prior to the government under the provision of the reclamation act, approved June 1, 1902.
 ''The drainage basin intercepted about 5000 square miles. all of rough mountainous country. mainly tim bered and largely occupied by the Apache Indian reservation. It drains the southern slope of the White mountains and the Mogollon plateau. and is one of the best drainage areas for certainty of water seep in the southwest
 'The gorge in which it is proposed to build the dam is 210 feet wide at