The Sentinel=record., 1911-03-19
|BIG ROOSEVELT
 IRRIGATION DAM
COMPLETION OF THE FIRST BIC PROJECT nY THE etLT RIVER
 IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION.
Farmers Responsible for BIq im- provement by ouaranteelna the
 Payment of Construction Cost

Phoenix. Ariz, March 1S-The Roosevelt dam reclamation project. which IS scheduled to be officially opened by Colonel Roosevelt today. is situated half mile below the contiu- ence of Tonto Creek and Upper Sat River, at the head of canyon through which Salt River flows for many miles.
 It is inc most imposing feature of the Salt River project. the flist one undertaken by the United States Reclamation Service under the pro visions of the Reclamation Act, ap- proved by President Roosevelt June fl7, 1902, and after whom the town at dam site is named It is 76 miles east of Phoenix. which is situated in the center of a valley of which 24O,- |0o0 acres Is signed to the Salt River Valley Water Users Association.
 This corporation represents the farmers in their dealings with the government, guaranteeing payment fl the construction cost of the project.
 The dam creates reservoir ex- tending twelve miles up Tonto creek and thirteen miles up Salt River. nearly to what Is known as the inta' e dam, 4o0 feet long. The capacity of the reservoir is 1.2S4,2 ,205 acre feet, the largest artificial lake in the word. Though the dam is not the largest in the world. 1t is among the largest. The foundation rests on bed rock 40 feet below river level. It is 235 feet long. between the canyon walls and ITO feet wide. From the river level to the crest of the spillways at either end of the dam, the height is 220 feet, that being the greatest depth of storage possible.
 The spillways are bridged and over tie bridges and the top of the dam runs the only highway in that region connecting the mountain country on the north and south sides of Salt River This roadway Is 20 feet above the highest storage and copying 1 feet high protects the roadway. From the bottom of the Foundation 10 tae top stone of the coping, is 2S4 feet
 The dam is curved, arening up- stream and at the top is 6S0 feet long and fG feet wide. The spillways at eh CT end are 200 feet wide. so tae length, inclusive of the bridges over the spillways, Is 1.0S0 feet. The spillways are blasted from the noun tain sides.
 The dam contains 339,4o0 cubic yards of masonry. every stone of which was washed before it was per cemented in place. In the of the dam and auxiliary wsrks ssS,452 barrels of cement wers used, all manufactured on the ground at a cost of $1.oe3.542. in a cement min erected by the government and recently sold. The cost was s3.14 per barrel as against $4.S9 per barrel. the best private bid available when ope rations began The manufacture of cement on the ground effected say ing of s5s2.so0.
 The first stone was laid in the
  September 20. 1906. The last stone was laid on the coping 2S4 feet above, February 6, 1911. The uo- per face of the dam is almost perpen dicular. 'fEe lower face retreats like the pyramids in huge stone steps from the width Of ITO feet in the to 16 feet at the top.
 No less interesting are the auxil- iary and correlated works, such as the cement min, tle hydro electric Ls ..--.-