The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-06-08
SAYS NUUANU
DAM IS NOT
SAFE

Il do not consider the big dam in
Nuuanu valley SAFE" said Inspector w
X Patterson, who has been on the
work for some time past, last might.
Understand me! 1 did not want to
bring this thing into the newspapers.
But l have asked Governor Carter to
appoint Commission to examine the
dam, and l have the backing in this
of the most influential people in the
town and of the principal residents of
Nuuanu valley"
1t was stated yesterday that Gov
ernor Carter would appoint the COM
mission asked for by Inspector Patter-
son. That gentleman was very frank
in his statements of why he had taken
the action that he had in the matter.
Il have been waiting for Governor
Carter to come back" he said, ''in Or
der that might have backing in what
L wanted to do. AS l have said, do
not consider that the work on the
dam is safe. ! have been inspector
there Tor some weeks, and I'm that time
l have not been able to get the con-
tractor to do satisfactory work
Il do not say that the contractor is
| at fault in this. The trouble has been
in the loose way in which the specifica-
tions are drawn. For example. the
other day they were putting in a layer
OF dirt on dust. Now. anybody knows
| that you cannot get dirt to unite with
dust, and If the dam We're built in that
way 1T would leave a loose place in the
structure.
STRENGTH UNDER PROTEST.
Il asked the contractor to wet the
dirt, and he objected, saying that the
contract did not call for wetting it.
1 protested that it should be wet to
hold. and he finally said that he would
wet 1t, because 1 insisted upon it, but
that he would do it under protest.
Il replied that I did not care how he.
did 1t, so it was done. The contractor
is l.. NJ Whitehouse.
"If that dam would break. it would
sweep away my house and my family.
and many other houses in the valley.
The dam is an immense structure.
holding sixty-six acres of water. 1t
runs from a height of sixty feet to
nothing at all at the upper end, and
at the lowest point has a thickness of
$50 feet. 1t is dirt dam, although IL
has cement core for a height of per-
haps eight feet right in the bed of the
stream, with a wooden core wall of
northwest pine rising above that
through the dam.
OF PERISHAHBLE MATERIAL.
Northwest pine is pershable. and
the core should have been of redwood.
Then, there are two pipes running
through the dam Of
rounded by concrete. The water leaks
through these pipes in all directions.
and through the cement making weak
places in the dam. If those pipes were
to be there at all, they should have
been constructed of redwood instead of
pine. The best authorities, / believe
hold that there should not be a pipe
through a uam at all, but that it
should be pierced with a tunnel The
two pipes in this dam are a 36-inch
waste pipe and a 3O-inch main supply
pipe''
There has been more or less talk for
long time past about the security of
the Nuuanu dam, but this is the first
time that a concrete charge of insecuri-
ty has been made, and as Mr.. Patter-
son says, he has the backing in his
charge of some of the leading property
owners of Nuuanu valley. Indeed, it
is matter that should be thoroughly
investigated, because if that big reser-
voir We're to give way after it should
be filled, the consequences would be
appalling. The fine residence of p. C.
Jones and C. M. Cooke, high up in the
valley, are almost directly under the
dam.
HOLLOWAY HAS NO FEAR.
An afternoon paper quotes Superin-
tendent of Public Works Holloway as
saying that in his opinion the dam is
safe. mo complaints have been made
to this department formally" says Mr..
Holloway, but have heard that some
of the residents of the valley were
nervous about the dam. To satisfy
them, report may be had from a
commission of engineers. l think that
the dam will be safe, and that the
worry is not justified
The dam itself is an immense struc-
ture, and 1t will probably be year yet
before it can be completed and water
turned in. AS to the statement that
the method of construction is the same
as at the big Wahiawa dam, Inspector
Patterson said last night that he un-
derstood that the Wahiawa dam was
pierced by tunnel, whereas the Nuu-
anu dam was certainly pierce by wood
en- pipes encased In cement. He SEEM
ed, indeed. to think this piercing the
greatest source OF weakness, although
he expressed dissatisfaction with the
manner OF the construction of the dam
itself.
The plans Of the dam show II 10 be
about nifty feet wide at the base and
fifteen feet wide AT the top, which In
To be twelve feet above the water. In
the 0eEter is supposed 10 be "A concrete
wall between four and half and Ave
feet wide, running up 20 within twenty
feet OF the top, above which point the
center II of wood This statement OF
the plans does not altogether agree
with The statement ~ the construction
made by Inspector Patterson
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