The Irish standard., 1906-11-10
DAM AND POWER HOUSE
The st. Croix River Will Soon
Be Turning Wheels
In Minneapolis Factories by
Electric Current.

the city to it's present station. agree
est City of the Great Northwest" de-
ponds on increased jobbing and manu-.
featuring industries and much atten-
ton is paid especially to the latter.
For this reason special interest and
importance attaches to the mammoth
electrical power development lat Tay-
lors Falls in the st. Croix river under
taken year and q half ago by Stone
& Webster of Boston,, general man
ayers of the Minneapolis General Elec-
trio company. for the Minneapolis mar
ket. The development is now COM
pleted at a cost of $3,5OO.0OO. Inside
the next three weeks the partial de-
velopment amounting to 1880 horse
power of electrical energy will be avail
able in Minneapolis for manufacture
ing. The ultimate development will
render available from $4,000 to 10000
horsepower. Minneapolis is to be the
electrical manufacturing city. the clean
manufacturing city, the city of the
chimneyless factory. The advent of
electricity as the dominant power opens
up a great field for Minneapolis. es-
pecially when economy favors it's use.
The use of electricity generated by
water power settles at once two great
problems. the fuel and the smoke prob
lens.
Minneapolis may we'll point with
pride to the immense development. for
1t is the equal of anything in the coun-
try in point of modern equipment If
not in size. The first steps OF the UNI
dertaking were taken over: two years
ago. when Stone & Webster began to
Investigate the Taylors Falls power
with view to developing 1T for the
Minneapolis market. Over half a mil
lion dollars was spent in securing flow
age rights. Twenty-one miles Of shore
line on both sides of the river were
bought and to the ten miles of back
water formed by the new development
may be added another eleven miles Of
property. ten miles above the new
work. which was also secured.
The floods and washouts have de-
layed operations or destroyed work al
ready in, the development has been
pushed and is now practically COM
pleted. The plant consists of COM
pletely equipped modern power house
and dam, and in addition transmits
sion line 40.67 miles in length, which
brings the current to the Minneapolis
substation in Northeast Minneapolis.
The dam is Of solid concrete 700 feet
long, so feet high, 40 feet thick at the
base and 10 feet wide at the top,
equipped with log sluices, fishway and
spillway. 1t will last practically for
ever and will withstand anything that
can be brought against it. The dam
extends diagonally across the st. Croix
river from the town of St. Croix Falls,
on the Wisconsin side, to point above
Taylors Falls. on the Minnesota side.
The huge power house covering a
ground space of 100 by 200 feet. is also
of solid concrete, and is erected on the
solid rock ledge at the st. Croix Falls
side. The canal leading to the water
wheels is cut through solid rock and is
1875 feet wide and 30 feet deep. An ef-
fective head of SIS feet ia secured, and
is further increased by draught tubes
below the wheels.
The equipment of the powerhouse il
most modern throughout. For the in
itial development the water ~ carried
through four penstocks, IA feet in
diameter, to four, 1900 horsepower
main horizontal turbine wheel units
Victor type, directly connected to four
$500 kilowat Westinghouse alternating
current generators. Two 225-horse-
power horizontal turbine waterwheel
units are directly connected: with two
100 kilowat Westinghouse excitor gem
orators that excite the large genera
tors -... s.s-.- =.
Current will be generated at $500
volts and raised for transmission to
$4,000 volts, at which voltage it will
be received in the Minneapolis SUBJ
station and transformed to a lower VOL
tage for commercial use. Twelve trans
formers are installed at the power
plant and nine at the substation
Everything connected with the work
has been managed on gigantic scale
AS far as possible all material has been
handled in cars and spur tracks reach
the work from the 500 and Northern
Pacific lines. Sixty thousand barrels of
Portland cement were used and other
material in proportion. Much temper
AIRY work was necessary in the con-
structjon of the dam and power house