The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-23
Project Louo1ving M%2io1s Of Dollars VII Be
 Started At O1ce13y Tennessee Co1npany Near E1sey
Great Impoundng Reservoir Village Creek Will Give Con pany 25,00000O Gallons of Water Daily-Ninety Foot
 Dam Will Back Water Up for Five Miles
Immense Battery of BProduct Coke Ovens Will Be Built the Total Outlay for New Work Being Between $4,000000 and $5,0OO0 0OO-Means Ultimate Expansion
 Gigantic Scale

The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company is now entering upon a new era of expansion. The question of a larger water supply for the companys manufac- turing plants at and near Ensley has been of prime importance and has occu- pied the attention of the present admin istration, with George Gordon Crawford as president, ever since it was installed in the latter part of 1907.
 Like all engineering problems, time was required to work 1t out, but plans have supply by building immense dam across Village creek and impoundng the water of that stream and its tributaries The needed property having been ac- quired the work of constructing the dam, which will be of great magnitude, will be started at once. On this question of water has depended the Tennessee company s policy of future development and now that it has been satisfactorily solved, ad- ditiona1 plants will be designed and erect ed. An enormous by-product coke oven plant will be built immediately.
 President Crawford has prepared for The Age-Herald full statement of the water supply project and certain other Improvements and has furnished map Illustrating the ground plan of the water scheme.
 Some idea of the vast extent of the company's dam and its daily pumping ca- pacity can be formed when 1t is stated that at the start it will be much larger than the total amount now being pumped by the Birmingham Water Works com- pany, and that it will be doubled as soon as the demand arises.
 Mir. crawford's Statement.
 MT. Crawford's story follows:
 During the past two years many studies have been made with view of diversifying and expanding the steel prod ucts of the Tennessee company, and every study has ended with the conclusion that it was inadvisable to go ahead because of insufficient water for the manufacturing plants.
 'The water supply for the Ensley plants of the Tennessee company is drawn from Village creek. and supplemented during the dry season by water from the Bir- mingham Water Works company. In periods of drouth the quantity of water flowing down Village creek has been as low as a million gallons day, and with all the water which could be se- cured through the mains to Ensey from the Birmingham waterworks, not a suf- f1cient quantity obtained to enable the plants to operate at full capacity; nor has 1t been feasible to produce power cheaply on account of lack of water for condensing or gas washing.
 Securing Adequate Water.
 "It is proposed to remedy this serious condition by securing an adequate water supply. For the past IS months an ex- haustive investigation of the most eco- nomical source of water supply has been going on under the direction of MT Mor- ris Knowles of Pittsburg. This involved a study of all the feasible methods of bringing water cheapy to the vicinity of Ensley. Studies of the records of rainfalls and watershed yields have been made. Stream gaugings of all the i'm portant streams In the vicinity of Bir- mingham and evaporation tests at the Shades Mountain reservoir of the Bir- mingham Water Works company and at East Lake have been made, and a large amount of valuable data has been secured from which the method outlined below has been designed.
 ..The plan which has finally been adopt ta construct dam across the chan ysl U .llage creek immediately above mouth of Venson creek, impounding the water of Village creek and It's tribu- tares. A channel will be cut up one of the tributaries, Camp branch. to loca- tion for the pumping site, shown on the accompanying map. This pumping sta tion will have a pumping capacity of 25.o00,oO0 gallons per day, and from 1t a l2-inch pipe line, two and an eighth miles long will carry the water to a reservoir from which distributing pipe will carry 1t by gravity to the Ensley works, and to the tracts of land which the Tennes- see company has purchased below Ems ley, the reservoir being about equally distant from both places;
 Maximum Usage, Minimum Storage. This scheme furnishes the advanta gc of maximum usage of water with mini mum storage, for the reason that the WdSl6 WdterS IrOm the Enbiey WOTKS VIII flow back into Village creek and will then pass through the channel in Camp branch to the pumping station again. sew eral months being occupied in the travel of the water through the reservoir, which will give 1t time to deposit Its sediment and cool Some of the details regard ing the project are as follows:
 Height of the dam, 90 feet.
 .'Length of the dam 490 feet
 ''Iength of the lake, five miles.
 '"Total impounding capacity of the reservoir, 2,5O0, ,OO0.0o0 gallons.
 ..The dam will be built of concrete and the crest of the dam will be a driveway connecting the opposite sides of the val lev. the spilway being spanned by a concrete arch.
 ..Durng the winter and spring the reservoir will fill, and during a normal wear A quantity of water practically so,,ivalent to the reservoir capacity will flow over the dam; thus the lake will ..Of the 25oo,oooOOo gallons impounded in the reservoir, the total usabe quan- tity will be practically 1,7oo,0Oo,oOo' leav- ine a considerable depth of reservoir to allow for silting.
 ..The shores of the reservoir will be planted with trees and protected from the washing spring rains.
 Capacity Can Be Doubled.
 'srhe dam will be constructed to permit of an increase of 15 feet in height, which will yield . further supply of water 'ghould 1t bs needed. and the pumping stA-