Evening journal., 1910-08-23
BIG PLANT
SOON READY
Mccall Ferry is Second Only
to Niagara Falls
MEANS CHEAP
POWER FOR MANY CITIES

generated IN lne SlBdullC uyuIo-elec-
trio plant of the Pennsylvania Water
Company at Mccall Ferry, on the Sus-
quehanna river This plant, which is
the second largest of its kind in this
country, is nearly completed, and all
that remains to be done is the install
alton of part of the machinery
Two of the large dynamos are al
ready being operated. While none of
the current generated by these dyna-
mos is used they are making half the
amount of power which the contract
with the Consolidated Gas Electric
Light and Power Company calls for.
After five years of almost constant
work the mammoth plant is practi-
cally completed. At times as many as
| $500 men were working on the great
mower plant and dam at one time. In
all about $10,000000 has been expend-
ed on it. The work of construction
was first undertaken by the Mccall
Ferry Company, but the expense prov
ed so heavy that the company became
! financially embarrassed and the Penn
sylvania Water and Power Comanpy
obtained control.
Called Great Engineering Feat.
When the last touches are on the
!
one of the greatest engineering feats
will have been completed. The only
Water-power plant in this country
which is larger is that at Niagara
Falls. There is only one dam in the
world longer than the one across the
! Susquehanna; the one across the Nile.
Looking down the Susquehanna river
on the plant for 1850 feet the rounded
top of the huge dam can be seen sew
eral feet out of the water, The power
house is really built over the dam and
is an extension of it. The very mas
siveness of the concrete power house
makes 1t attractive. II is built over
the eastern end of the dam and is only
two stories above the level of the
river. At the same time there are
two stories under the surface of the
river.
The crest of the dam is 45 feet above
normal low water level. It's maxi
mum height above the bottom of its
foundations is 90 feet and the maxi
mum base width is 65 feet. 1t is built
entirely of concrete in which displace-
ment stones as large as one cubic
yard have been placed The total
amount of concrete is about 174,000
cubic yards. About 100000 cubic
yards of concrete have been used, or
enough to fill a city block $50 feet
square solid to a depth of 70 feet.
Power House Spans the River.
The power house is 48 feet wide and
500 feet long, with the main floor IA
feet below the crest of the dam. In 1t
the dynamos and water wheels will be
! placed. At present only half of the
structure has been completed. How
ever, it is thought that it will only
be a few years before the entire cur
rent which the completed plant can
produce will be needed.
In the present plant five large and
one small dynamo will be placed. Each
of the large dynamos will be capable
! of generating 1880 horsepower ca
] pacity with "a revolutions a minute.
The smaller one will be Of 1000 horse
power capacity. Each of the large
dynamos will weigh about 400 tons.
, They are vertical and among the lar
gest pieces of rotating machinery in
the world
Two DynamOs Already Tested.
One of the large dynamos and the
small one have been placed in posi-
ton. They were thoroughly tested
last week and proved satisfactory.
These great pieces of machinery, the
largest of their kind in the world, ro-
tate without the slightest vibration OF
noise. The dynamos which will be
in operation within the next few
months will have a capacity of 10000
horsepower. Ultimately the plant will
be capable of producing $4,000 horse
power, which Is thought to be the
maximum power which can be OBJ
tained from the river at that point.
There are several hundred expert
electricians and machinists at work
in the power house now assembling
the machinery.
All Switches Duplicated.
In the interior is every possible
mechanical convenience TO guard
against accident and to do repair
work rapidly. There are two large
travelling cranes running from end to
end. A small machine shop will be
installed. The wires running in and
out Of the building will be placed in
conduits in the floor or the wall.
The switches are operated by cleo
tricity, which protect the operators.
All are in duplicate. so that an acci-
dent TO a switch will not cripple the
plant.
Special mechanical devices have
been installed to protect the plant
from lightning. Above the level of
the river the power plant has a num-
Der of large windows, which allow
plenty of light to come in, so that no
artificial air will be necessary dur
ing the day In front of the power
house, facing up the stream, is a
large wall to keep the ice from strik-
ing it. Behind this are the openings
to the waterwheel pits. The open
ings are protected with heavy iron
grating, so fine that large fish can
not enter through it and be caught in
the wheels of the turbines. Each of
these will take about 300 cubic feet
of water a second to operate it at
full capacity.
Ice Gorge Guarded Against.
One of the greatest difficulties
which at first faced the engineers
planning the immense work from ice,
to protect the power plant from ice.
The river is subject to extremely high
fluctuations. the maximum flood dis
charge being roughly 225 times the
minimum stream flow. Next to the
St Lawrence river the Susquehanna
! is the largest stream flowing into
the North Atlantic. IL drains an area
of about 27.000 square miles above
Mccall Ferry, in which the precipi-
tation is about 40 inches annually.
An elaborate plan has been worked
out for protecting the power house