The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-11-08
THE HENRY LAKE DAM;
A GREAT WORK DOING

Special 10 The Tribune
ST. ANTHONY. Ida. Nov. The big
dam at Jacksons lake, Wyoming. Is
progressing rapidly and a few weeks will
see 1t completed. At the present time
there arc some 400 men employed there,
together with about 100 teams. and work
continues night and day Unless some
unusually bad weather intervenes the
temporary structure will be finished in a
icw weeks. while the permanent dam will
pc Tar enough advanced next spring to
nold an enormous storage OF water and
thereby insure the settlers on the Mini
doka project a lasting source OF moisture
for the crops.
water exists In Idaho than this same
jackson lake, lying tranquil and placid
amid the Rockies and on whose surface
Is mirrored the towering peaks OF the
the storage reservoir for the great Mini
doka project and Is some thirty miles
IN area, and distant some sixty miles
sons Hole" country.
When the reservoir proposition was
hrst talked OF It was the intention TO
freight the supplies and machinery from
81. Anthony 10 the reservoir site. but q
careful survey OF the route convinced the
government that such a course would be
Impractical, the route being by wagon
road some 110 miles from here and over
a road rough and rocky In the extreme.
so the Idea was abandoned and a road
built out from Ashton, where the grade
never exceeded per cent and the dis
tance was shortened some sixty miles. so
that Ashton has been the scene of great
activity for some months owing to tho
traffic oceasoned by the building OF the
dam. Thousands of pounds Of freight
have been teamed from this little city
and the business accruing from this un-
usual activity has made Ashton thriv-
ing and lively little village. It is es!i-
mated that the saving alone from the
frelghting over this new route will more
than pay the cost of building the road.
The site of the big dam is at point
The distance across the channel at this
point is about $50 feet. 1t Is mere that
thousands Of barrels of cement will be
used In the construction Of this man.
moth dam. The excavatlng Will be COM
pleted in about three weeks, and the con-
crete work has already been started. This
work is going on under an immense
shed to prevent freezing. The little set
TO supply the wants of the men. A
sawmill. drug store, electric light plant,
the latter used for night work, as two
shifts are kept going constantly, form
quite a settlement, together with the
other necessary buildings. Most of the
rock and gravel used in the construction
work are taken from the excavation;
Outside OF the dam proper, the prlnci-
pal work 10 be accomplished Will be the
construction OF the earthcn dyke at the
south end of the dam. the division of
Pilgrim creek around the end OF the
dyke. bank protection below the dam
and the dredging OF the river channel in
order that the lake may be drawn down
TO the very lowest practical elevation.
This work will all take much time, and
while II is not anticipated that IL will
be completed until about December, 1911.
yet the dam will be in shape for storage
purposes in the spring.
The construction camp is n MODEL
camp OF It's kind and is so arranged that
the night and day crew do not conflict
with each other as regards work. II is
estimated that the camp store does
business OF about $4,000 a month