Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-02
-HYDRO-ELECTRIC
PLANT REPAIRED
EDISON COMPANY INCREASES
POWER AVAILABLE
BIG PIECE OF CONSTRUCTION
WORK COMPLETED
After Six Months of ldleness Kern
River Service Is Resumed.
New Pressure Main
Strengthened

Thirty-fve thousand horsepower of
electric energy, or within 1000 horse
power of the entire amount of cur
rent consumed for power purposes in
this city, was made available for Los
Angeles, Pasadena and a number Of
other towns of Southern California at
o'clock last night, when the water
power of the, Edison Electric company
Kern river plant No. / resumed serV-
| ice after an interval of eight months.
During this interval 1t has been made
SO permanently endurable by one of
the greatest pieces of steel construc-
| tion in America that the most expert
| hydraulic engineers pronounce 1t i'm
pervious to anything that can ever
| occur.
| This gigantic piece of constructive
work has required the services of
about 1000 men, working night and
day, for six months, and has been
completed at a cost of approximately
$300, 900 for labor and material and an
additional 100000 for the production
of power to take the place of the Kern
river power during the period that the
repair work was in progress, making
total expenditure of half a million
dollars.
During the period this great work
has been going on the Edison Electric
| company, by means of It's six other
water power plants and three auXil-
larry steam plants, has supplied its
| 60, 900 consumers to the full limit of
their requirements. As a matter OF
fact, the consumers have only been
aware that the great Kern river
hydro-electric plant was out of com
mission by learning of the fact from
newspaper reports.
Pressure Main Strengthened
liconuaraA in
/ the pressure mains of Kern river plant
No. ]. The plant was shut down and
| w. A. Breckenridge, the consulting
| engineer of the Niagara Falls hy-
| draulic power plant, was asked TO
make an inspection and recommenda-
tions. Mr. Breckenridge, after COM
pleting this inspection, made an ex-
| haustive report advocating the con-
struction of an entirely new pressure
main of heavy steel pipe, with
strength equal to sustaining the en-
tire pressure.
This new steel pipe is inserted in
1.-The old tunnel for a total length OF
1900 feet. 1t ranges in thickness from
one and three-eighths inches to i've
sixteenths of an inch and was placed
in the old tunnel in lengths of five
feet and enduring strength and abso-
lutte safety given it by cement1ng II
to the old lining so that the new work
| has all of the strength OF the oiu plpe,
but the additional strength of the new
steel core which the most experienced
engineers pronounce equal to the re-
sistance of all the pressure that can
be placed on it.
The steel work was furnished by the
Resdon Iron Works of San Francisco.
Local firms were invited to compete
but declined because the work was TOO
extensive for their facilities.
The construction work has been un-
der the personal direction of A. 7.
Throop, one of Mr.. Breckenridge,
most competent assistants. Its com
nletion several days in advance of the
specified time and the perfect working
Of an organization which Ino has beer been
| tica1lv as much power as is used In
Los Los Angeles without its absence being
permitted to interfere in the slightest Lsi1t It
manner with consumers Is naturally
officers of the Edison Electric COM
pany.