Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1907-05-18
ENORMOUS WATER POWER
The Harvesting OF the Kern River. Near
Los Angeles, Cal.


The Harvesting of the Kern river. 12u
miles from Los Angeles. Cal. and ill.,.
converting of the enormous water power
of the canyon into electricity Is uoarh.
completed. and soon over the miles al
cables. supported on steel towers. win
flash the worlds highest long diStaurs
voltage 10000 volts. This enorInru.
power will be used in and about the en-,
of Los Angeles.
1t was in 1900 that a hydraulic emf
neer inspected the Kern canyon and unt-
ed the marvellous water power waStiu,
itself in noisy tumbles down the straI
grades. The Edison company Of Ia,
Angeles became interested and the fol
lowing spring surveying party invaded
the canyon with instruments and note
books. Soon followed an army Of work
men, heavy wagons and tons Of freisl..
machinery and building materials. The
canyon was practically inaccessible until
road 10 feet wide and two miles lup.,
had been blasted from the solid granjfe
shoulder of the cliff. Camps Sprang nm
i'll a day with cook sheds, hospitals.
workshops. etc. A small temporary pow
erhouse with 400-horsepower was M
stalled to run the air compresSorS. and
hundreds of yards of piping carried tie
compressed air to the drills and other ma
chinery Fighting every inch of the way
with dynamite. twenty tunnels, to:allnc
nearly nine miles in length, were cut
through the rocky wallC. 1t is the long
est tunnel system of its kind in the
world. The shafts are uniformly lined
with inches of concrete.
1t was with the greatest difficulty that
some of the heavy machinery reached lis
destination at the camp. One of the
steepest trails was sheer and very ahrupt
for nearly half a mile and Il huge 1000
pound sled was made, its runners Shod
with iron an inch thick and inches
wide. Onto it seven and eight tons of
machinery were placed and men wi:n
thick snub ropes steadied its perilou>
descent.
The dam is 45 feet wide at its base
fastened to the bed rock about Is feet
below the level of the stream. and backs
the water up for more than mile From
this lake the waters pour into the intake
and glide along the canal for about
twelve miles to the tunnels, where they
are hurled down the steel mains many
hundred feet 10 the gigantic impulse
wheels in the powerhouse below.
The powerhouse equipment consists of
the impulse wheels whiring the four
mammoth 5000 kilowatt genera tors. Five
sets of Step-up 1861 XIV. transformers
are used. To take care of the $4,000
volts at the Los Angeles end of the line
thirteen 1900 XIV. transformers are re
quired The electric equipment is fur
nished by the General Electric company.
built at Schenectady, n. y. and shipped
across the continent to serve it's purpose
in the wild canyons of the Sierra noun
tains.
The work is an experiment. but its
success is now assured. The Edison
Electrical company IS accustomed to this
sort of work. In its time it has installed
the first multi-phase power transmission,
the longest line, the highest voltage and
the highest hydraulic operating head in
the world; the first synchronous motor
and the first induction motor ever turned
out by the General Electric company.
the first oil break switches. the first re
volving field generators; the first 10000
volt generators, the first high potential
measuring instruments, the first steel
towers and the first turbine generators
west of Chicago.