Amador ledger., 1904-08-19
A BIG BREAK in
PLANTS PIPE LINE
The Standard Electric Plant is Severely
Damaged-A Shutdown for at Least
Week. The Dynamos Covered
with Debris from the
Mountain.

with Debris from the
Mountain.
Probably the worst disaster that has
overtaken the big electric plant of the
Standard Electric Company at Electra,
occurred about IL o'clock Friday night,
August II. The ordinary pressure
under which the five dynamos has been
operated is 1400 feet. This is over $50
feet less pressure than full head. 1t
had been deemed inadvisable to utilize
the immense pressure of the full fall of
1850 feet, as it was feared by some that
a portion of the pipe would be unable
to stand the strain. The volume of
water running on the wheels from five
3-inch nozzles was over 5000 inches-a
stream sufficient to supply the largest
city in the United States with water for
domestic purposes. The power gen.
Grated by the five dynamos, operating
to their full capacity, was $4,000 horse
power, sent principally to the cities
around the bay of San Francisco, oper-
ating street car lines in Oakland and
San Jose. To economize water the
company sent up word to utilize the
full head. Consequently the additional
$50 feet was turned on early Friday
morning, and this experiment brought
speedy disaster. Many street car lines
or oh mi lnic~
the reduced demand for power is met
by shutting down one or more dyna-
mos, the sudden stoppage naturally
throwing increased pressure upon the
pipe line. 1t was this extra strain or
iar-the first after the utilization of the
full head-that led to the trouble. The
pipe line is composed of heavy steel
pipe, except toward the head which is
of cast iron, and the additional head of
250 feet from the cast iron to the intake
is of wood. The cast iron pipe is three
quarters of an inch thick. The sudden
jar blew out piece of this pipe 8 feet
long and 13 inches. wide. Such was
the power of the water even at this
distance up the hill, that this mass
weighing nearly half ton--was car
ried 300 feet down the hill. The gap
opened river. Five thousand inches
of water was turned loose, tearing down
the hillside for l400 feet, and striking
the power house at the bottom with
the force of an avalanche, carrying
loose soil and large boulders in its path
The wooden pipe above the break
collapsed from the vacuum when the
water was turned off from the head of
the line. The power house was covered
two or three feet deep with mud and
debris. The galvanized iron siding of
the power house was stove in where
the force OF the water struck it, as if
fashioned of paper. The dynamos we're
covered up in the mud sluices, while
the wheels kept revolving for some
time after the accident, scattering the
mud over the whole machinery. It
was about 80 minutes after the break
occurred before the water was shut off
and the machinery was brought to a
complete standstill. Fortunately, the
steel pipe line below the point OF the
break is mounted on concrete piers,
and thereby escaped injury. On either
side of the piers the hillside has been
washed out considerably by the rush
of water.
The damage is estimated at fully
$50, 600, beside the loss of revenue en-
tailed by the stoppage. Two tons of
new pipe arrived Tuesday by express.
Over 100 men were put to work clear-
ing out the mud from the power house,
and freeing the machinery from the
debris. How long it will take to get
the plant in full working order again is
not known. IT is hoped to supply
power for the mines and mills by the
end of this week. The dynamos are
deluged with water, and they must be
thoroughly dry before carrying a full
load, on account of the danger of burn
ing out on account of moisture. The
cast iron pipe will be replaced with
steel.
The American River Company was
able to supply about 1900 horse power
to tide the Standard Electric Company
over the difficulty. The mines were
shut off from power for a few hours,
until the American River plant was
called into requisition. Of course, the
energy available trQm this source falls
far short Of meetipg the demand. The
repair Of the break will no doubt be
done with a view of being able to
utilize the full pressure hereafter.
There is no other plant in the world
operating under such high pressure
with anything like the volume of
water. A break in the ditch OF the
American River Company caused a
shutdown of mines throughout the
county dependent upon electric power,
The break occurred Tuesday night.