Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1907-07-05
ShOshOne Falls Electric
Plant Model of Com
pIeteneSS--Run in
Two Weeks.

The entire Journal force this
week had the pleasure of visiting
the power plant at the Great Sho-
shone Falls of the Snake river, un-
der the personal guidance of L. w.
Glass, the efficient superintendent
of the work.
1t is great piece of engineering.
A drop of water is a harmless
thing, but when thousands of tons
of it come seething and roaring at
you, kissing and plunging like a
thing of sinister life us it does at
the brink of the great precipice, it
is a mans work to battle against it.
The men have been found, and in
few days the watery giant will
have been tanned.
The power plant, the dream of I.
B. Perrine, the Seer of Idaho, is on
the north bank OF the river. The
whole fall is properly on school
section belonging to the state, but
garbled survey, at time when no
one else was looking. made it pos
sible for w. A. Clark of Montana
to claim it under a scrip entry. He
has undisturbed poss sslon of the
south bank, here he has a small
hotel, but other claimants, up to
the present owners, the powerful
Twin Falls company, have fought
him until they established their
rights, and the plant is now almost
ready to operate.
The general plan includes the
building OF a wing dam between
TWO small islands above the falls,
the dam being para lei to the main
channel, and designed to insure
full flow of water even at low stage
to the branch of the stream that
formed the beau iful Bridal Veil
falls. This diversi n dam was
built, but must be tori. out by Aug
Is, according to ruling of the late
Judge Beatty of the federal court,
who declared it built in defiance of
a court injunction. Then a wood
en- bulkhead was built across tn
north channel of the river, to shut
off the water while the power tun-
mel was being built.
4 concrete dam 5 feet high has
been built across the face. of the
Bridal Veil fall, merely to raise the
height of the water at the intake of
the power tunnel. Even with this
8 feet added to the height of this '
portion of the falls-for the water
is to flow over this concrete apron {
interruption-the company
has not utilized all the 215 feet
total head of the mighty cataract; c
the working head being 100 feet as s
he plant now stands. r
The water is taken from the bay 5
formed by the concrete apron, down t
through an incline tunnel through f
he cl if to the power house. This il
unnel, 10x105 feet in size, is built h
partly on a pitch of 20 and partly r
. degrees 1t is concrete lined, Il
With minimum thickness of II
nches and from that up to 3 feet a
i concrete. At the lower end, be- p
ause of the seamy character of the a
ock, the tunnel has been lined for Il
0 feet with circulars steel shell, d.
0 feet in diameter. This shell. Il
ontinued, carries the water to the Sc
heels. ol
The power house, where the big F
heels are, is a model of perman- tt
ncy. 1t is built throughout of d'
teel reinforced concrete. AT pres be
Mt it contains only one General eI
,lectric 500 kilowatt generator, de-
eloping $50 horse power, directly in
to the water wheel There
room for one more wheel in the th
over house, without extending the
nilding; but to develop the plant hs
its c opacity the power house will frl
ave to be built longer. Future 10
over units viii probably be of
100 h. p. each. The total power ac