Arizona republican., 1906-08-09
BIG RESERVOIRS
 FAST AND WESI
The TontO Reservoir and the New
 CrOtOn Dam.

The Scientific American recently printed the following comparison of western Irrigation reservoirs and the new Croton dam in which especial comparison is made with the Salt river valley reservoir:
 One of the most surprising features connected with the work of the reclamation service. as well as the one affording highest qualification, is the cost of structures compared with those which have been familiar to engineers in the east.
 When the reclamation work was in augurated, it was a matter of conjec- ture whether or not the standards of 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 of es- inmates of the cost of the proposed western structures As the work has progressed. it has become more and more evident that many classes of en- gineering work in the west can be per formed much more cheaply than in the east. and at the same time the natural conditions are such that these struc- lures are more economical and effec- tive.
 If we take, for example the three great masonry dams now being crested for the purpose of storing water, viz, the Roosevelt dam in Arizona, the Pathfinder dam in southeastern Wyo- ming, and the Shoshone dam in north western 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 Wachusett in Massachusetts. The heights of these dams are as follows: Roosevelt 2S0 feet; Pathfinder, 21O feet: Shoshone, sos feet; new Croton. 297 feet; and Wa chusett, 207 feee These heights are measured from the foundation stones to parapet in each case, and they show that the Shoshone 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 effective storage height the new Croton is the lowest. The order is then as follows: Shoshone. 240 feet; Roosevelt, 23O feet; Pathfinder 200 feet; {; Wachusett, 1S5 feet; and the new Gro ton. 157 feet. Tn other words, about fifty per cent of the masonry in the CrOton dam is below ground and is serviceabIe for foundation purposes only.
 It is interesting to note the com parative reservoir capacities. While the new Croton dam is the largest in the world from the standpoint of it's amount of masonry. the storage capac- ity of the reservoir formed by 1t 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 S33, ,00O cubic yards of masonry. and was erected at cost of $7,6O0.000. The capacity of the reser- vOir formed by it is 40O0 900 900 cubic feet, Or a cost of $500 per million cubic feet storage. Similar figures for the Wachusett dam show that it con- tains 2S00 cubic yards of masonry, and was erected at a cost of S2.gOO. 900. Its storage capacity Is s,400.000. 900 cubic feet, or a cost of $238 per million cubic feet storage. In contrast to these excessive costs, the<three western dams appear remarkable. The Roosevelt dam, for example, contains $50, ,00O cubic yards of masonry. erected at a cost of s3.S50. 900. The capacitysof the