The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1908-10-30
ANNIVERSARY OF
THE BIG FRESHET
iear Ago Yesterday Golfer. Dam
Was Submerged.
THINGS LOOK DIFFERENT NOW.
work on the Power House Has Reached
a Point Where Some idea Of the Ap,
pearanee Of the Structure Can be
oained-Mueh Yet to be Done.

| Work on the powefh ous. AZ IN. m.,,
moth dam which the Connecticut K,v,,
rover company ls building siX mlles so,,t 4
~ hiatlletoio has already pnrtrs.el Ia /
1ihl where u i possible fnr the aoca
s,"hai Visitor Ia the dam-siie 10 grt an
h'a "i The APPEARANCE 81 the big sttllr,
lhir which VIII form portion al The dam
iiseli A. well a. asoni shelter Tor The ,,,m.
| tihcdicd electrical apparatus 10 ~ u.el m
| transforming the current 81 the river into
electrical units. With work night and day
~ order that as much a. possible may he
accomplished before cold weather sris In
~ earnest, the past slx months has seen
Iemlfkahlr piogicss, The summer SEASON
,as been unusually favorable TO work ON
I've nferboiiom, the long period u drouih
having reduced the Connecticut f,om n
mighty torrent Ia small aud tIaelable
sircam. II no untowanl incident occnrs 10
iethni the progress the contractors expect
That the beginning Of the year 1919 will
see The closing OF the gates in the power.
house, aud from then il will be- but short
time before the actual work Of generating
power begins.
just one year ago yesterday occurred the
Lannon's Hood which sent the water up II
feet IN one night and caused il 10 iump ls
feet above normal at the coiierdam. The
water nj that time il will be remembered
completely submerged the colTerdam but
the structure was so staunchly built that
II suffered little damage. Since then that
portion OF the dam surrounded by the old
Golfer has been practically completed, and
the scene of activity has long since been
transferred from the New Hampshire TO
the Vermont side OF the river.
Here the steel framework for the power |
house. about which huge concrete bull |
Tarks are 10 he built for added stability |
lgalnst the enormous pressure which will |
be brought to bear upon the frame of the /
building is practically set up, and 10 the |
'isitor looks closely akin TO the beginning
u huge steel skyscnper. Tier after tier
Il huge girders, set in solid concrete beds
orm the base of the powerhouse. and in
md around these massive steel beams a
orce. of 80 carpenters is employed in set
ing the wooden frames into which the
onerete is TO be dumped.
Into this westerly Golfer dam, where but
few weeks ago was nothing but uneven
liver bed hustling foremen and their
rews have dumped load after load OF
oncrete, and this joining the bed rock of
he river has formed a solid mass IS feet
eep and considered strong enough to bear
ny pressure which may be brought to !
ear upon it by the force Of Connecticut
ver floods.
Above this IS feet Of concrete there still
,mains considerable area to fill. and it
expected by the constructing engineers
nat the work of completing the base for
lie power.house and the filling in required |
make the wheel pits will be finished in. e
de of two weeks. Then it is expected i
lat the work of laying the brick for the
Dper portion of the power-house will be
gun.
The powerhouse in itself will be a mas o
it'll its base, $50 feet long and 90 feet v
de- Two sets of wheels will be installed, a
in each set, one set for use in times of t,
W water and the other when in flood.
OF only have the pits for these wheels n
t to be constructed, but it will also be il
cessary to build sediment beds to keep c,
e fotsam of the river from passing into n
d injuring the wheels. The bases have k
en- built high enough so that it is now t,
ssibe for a spectator to get some idea OF
the completed appearance of the dam
d powerhouse. On the lower side of C
e dam the raceways where the water 81
Il pass into the river after being run W
rough the mammoth wheels are practi h,
lcrete is being placed around the iron br
ders which form the framework for the II
yer.house. Sc
sunday the concrete.mixing and stone sp
shing plant was shut down for the first
le this season to make some needed re- en-
RS, and the derricks were raised six pa
{, this raise being necessary to meet the in
v conditions on account of the height of mi
power-house above the rest Of the tn
n. Work was begun again Monday on re-
old schedule, both night and day
VS. being placed in commission. yo
he recent rains have not affected the an
k at the dam, there having been no
recable rise in the waters of the a
lnecticut since the storms of this week. Go