Arizona republican., 1906-05-05
RESERVOIR
 BUILDING
What the Reclamation En-
 gineeTS Have Taught
Dams can be Built for Much Less Than Old Experts Thought Thsy Could be.

Washington, May 3.-One of the most surprising features connected with the work of the Reclamation ser vice, as well as the one affording high est qualification, is the cost of struct- ures compared with those which have become familiar to engineers in the east
 When the reclamation work was in augurated it was a matter of conject- ure whether or not the standards Cf cost for dams, canals, etc, that had been established by engineering prac- tice in the eastern part of the country could be relied upon as a basis c. es- inmates of the cost of the proposed western structures. As the work has progressed it has become more ana more evident that many classes of en- gineering work in the west can be per formed considerably cheaper than in the east, and at the same time the na- tural conditions are such that these structures are more economical and effective.
 If We take, for example. the three great masonry dams now being erect ed for the purpose of storing water. q. the Pathfinder dam in southeastern Wyoming. and the Shoshone dam in northwestern Wyoming, We shall find that the effective storage capacity and costs are far below those of some of the great eastern dams like the New Croton in New York and the Wachu- sett in Massachusetts The heights of these dams are as follows: Roosevelt 2S0 feet, Pathfinder 21O feet. Snoshone sos feet New CrOton 297 feet. and Wachusett POT feet. These heights are measured from the foundation stones to parapet in each case. and they show that the ShOsnOne is the highest. while the New Croton is second and the Roosevelt third. If, however. the height above the river bed be considered. that is, the effectivestorage height. the New Croton is the lowest. The order is then as follows: Shoshone 24O feet. Roosevelt 230 feet. Pathfinder 200 feet. Wachusett 1855 feet, and the New Cro- ton 157 feet. In other words. about 50 per cent of the masonry in the New CrOton dam is below ground and is serviceable for foundation purposes only.
 It is interesting to note the compar- ative reservoir capacities While the New CrotOn dam is the largest in the world from the standpoint of its amount of masonry, the storage ca pacity of the reservoir formed bv it Is by far the lowest of any of those above mentioned. In fact from a standpoint of storage economy. the New CrOton reservoir is one of the poorest that has been constructed in recent years. The dam contains S3S.- 900 cubic yards of masonry and was erected at cost of S7.6O0. .OOO The capacity of the reservoir formed by il is 1000, ,00O,000 cubic feet, or a cost of $500 per million cubic feet storage Similar figures for the Wachusett dam show that it contains 28OOO cubic yards of masonry. and was erected at a cost of about S2.O0O. 900. Its stor- age capacity is S,4OO, GOO, ,O00 cubic feet or cost of S23S per million cubic feet storage. In contrast to these ex- cessive costs the three western dams appear remarkable. The Roosevelt dam, for example, contains 35O.OOO cu- bic yards of masonry, erected al a cost of S3.S5O,000. The capacity of the res ervOir is 61.000, 100000 cubic feet. or fifteen times that of tne New Croton. and about : 1-2 times that of the Wachusett. The cost of this dam per million cubic feet storage is only S63.16. Even more remarkable appears the Pathfinder dam. It contains 53,- 900 cubic yards of masonry, erected at a cost of S1,OO0. 900. The capacity of the reservoir is 4S.56O, OOO. 900 cubic feet, or more than ten times that of the Croton. The cost of the dam Der million cubic feet storage is therefore only S22.95. as against S1 300 for the New CrOton, and S23S for the Wachu- sett. Similar figures for the Shoshone dam, the highest in the world. are. cubic yards of masonry 69,OOO. cost S1,O00,000, capacity of reservoir 2O.OOO.- GOO cubic feet, or a cost of Der million cubic feet storage of $50. 35.
 These extremely low costs nave sell dom been equalled in the history of reservoir construction, and are due largely to the excellent natural facili- ties which are found in the rugged western country. From this foct it must not be inferred that these west ern structures are simple engineering works. On the contrary. owing to their isolated location. their inaccessibility by rail and often by wagon. and the erractic of torrential character of the streams, they involve problems which tax the skill and ingenuity of their builders to the utmost
 IL Is most fortunate that these res ervoirs provide enormous storage at relatively low cost, otherwise their construction would not b- Ies--aIs the irrigated land could not bear the expense of the costly struoture~ or ,..e east, with their limited storage ca pacity
 The CrOton dam if it had been con structed in Salt river valley in Arizona Tor irrigation, would only supply 23.- GOO acres, and irrigators would have to pay S3S0 an acre for stored water. as against S2O, the estimated cost from the Roosevelt dam.
 
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