New-York tribune., 1911-03-19
ROOSEVELT OPENS DAM
Project Bearing His Name Sec
ond Largest in World.
FIVE YEARS IN BUILDING
Arizona Land, Once Worth Hardly
One Cent an Acre, Now Valued
at from 500 to 81, 600.

,oosnvelt Ariz March 1s-Standing on
con Of the sreat storage dam which bears
.,s name. ex- President Theodore Roosevelt
.rossed an electric button this afternoon
,,.hicb set in motion mass of grinding
.,ocbinerv. which in turn raised three OF
- six massive iron gates weighing oVV,
..o,,rds apecc. BY this act he officially
.nsned the Roosevelt storage dam. part
.he salt River irrigation project.
rho motors which raise the gates Rad
hardly begun TO turn before thfee rasihs
,o,ron.s of water came rushing through the
.hree openincs at different Levers ana ran
dovn the valley. where. after racing 'ui'y
s,v,,. miles il viii be used in the irrigation
~ about two hundred and fifty thouSahu
acres Of land. ...e
The automobiles in which the many VS.
,,o,e besides the Roosevelt party made the
eoventy-fve-mile journey from fhHniA
we're parked along the road above the 81 u
tcjal lake each with its roll or poo"ins
strapped upon #. as the guests spent 'I,e
night here. On the hills hundreds OF saduie
horses sraZed.
Along the top of the tower several nun
dred persons were crowded, and when ME-
Poosevelt's machine came in sight In the
twisting road, a tremendous salute or dYna-
mite greeted him.
Those who spoke besides Mr.. Roosevelt
rere Lewis Hill, engineer of the project
q ! blanchard. of the Reclamation Ser
,.oe who read a letter from Director New
all aud B. a. Fowler, president of the Ma
tional Irrigation Congress
Along the top of the dam standards bear
ing electrical globes had been erected, and
Miss Roosevelt set these alisht by touch
,ng hutton, concluding the features of the
dsy
rbe dam has been about FIVE years in
,r;ldinS. The foundation was surveyed on
Nav 1s. 1904 The first stone was laid on
ssptemher %. 1906. and the last stone was
r,aced in the parapet walls on FEBRUARY o.
,a11 The structure is declared TO be the
largest storage dam of its kind in the
,-ri,ed states. and. with one exception. the
,a~ces, in the world. II is exceeded in SIZE
or,v bv the Assouan dam, on the River
Nile
The dam holds back body or water
,,r.rtv.fyo miles long and more than two
hundred feet deep Its capacity Is approx
,natelv 5S.s2s. 10000 cubic feet, or. accord
,rg N ,he Offices Of the Reclamation Ser
vice enough water to submerge the state
Of delaware in water one foot deep.
The waters from the dam VIII be USED 10
,,r,gate about 10000 acres of land IN the
sail River Valley. After the water leaves
the dam and before it reaches the point
uh.re II is TO he used it flows about sixty
miles. II is then distributed throughout the
land 10 be irrigated by means Of diversion
dam
The valley. it is said. will become one OF
the richest agricultural valleys in the world
crops can be raised twelve months in the
wear. II is estimated by c. J. Blanchard
ststistician Of the Reclamation Service
that enc full crop from this valley Will
c,ual mere than the entire cost OF the irri-
CATION works lie declared that land that
,~as not worth one cent an acre before the
pro,ect was built. since its completion has
lsen in value from 500 to $1,000 an acre.
The six massive gates of iron. which Will
ecptroI the outlet OF the waters OF the DAM
s4ch wei.n 1000 pounds. They are feet
sinches wide by 10 feet high. They are
divided into three regular and three
'<mersency" gates. the latter 10 be used
only IN cases Of extreme floods.