The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-02-17

sec it as it progresses, said Mi.
COoFcr, and inciGentally stated that
this IS the largest water power IN the
world as ore working unit, ana it
generates the electrical equivalent OF
3e0.eoe steam horse power, the usual
statement of the output being IN the
larger electrical horse power. Among
some details not hitherto published.
he gave the following.
II the dam could not be built on a
solid rock foundation il would not
be built
Some people think that The Mis-
sissippi river. because II is the Faith
er OF Waters. is specially difficult 10
dam. but il presents nothing that has
not hitherto been done as 10 diff
fculty
Overflow up the River.
One of the branches OF the work
which we give most careful attention
is the damage 10 be done by the in
creased height Of water Level. The.
new water Ieyel viii appear up to a
point three and one-haIf miles south
of Fort Madison. and most of the re-
suitfng damage to lands has been set
tied fer.
The dam wild be is miles long be-
tween extreme ends of its structure.
It will contain 100000 cubic yards
Of masonry.
The Golfer dam viii be four hun
dred feet long. and as soon as the dam
is built inside it. it will be moved
farther across the river.
A Little Device Costing Millions.
The introduction of electrical ma
chinery has caused much effort on the
part OF mechanical engineers to con-
struct water wheels suitable for turn
ing dynamos-which dynamos must
run always at uniform speed. Liter
ally millions of dollars have been
spent in trying to invent an automatic
governor to regulate the turbines in
harmony with the load demand on
them The heart OF the station is
little governor which does this and
is the end OF much labor and millions
OF expenses
Every thirty feet an exploration
hole will be drilled forty feet deep
into the bed of the river to make
sure of the bedrock.
The first time the work crosses the
river. the thing will look like a
bridge on piers between which the
water will run. This bridge will car
r. the cars of concrete from the ILL.,
nois nd to the Iowa end where most
of the concrete will be used Later.
the obstructing part of the dam will
be built across the river three feet
high, and successive layers of three
feet will be added until the total
height is reached. The water will be
raised eight inches by the bridge piers
before the later concrete is laid.
Is Four Times Needed Strength.
Excessive high water in the Des
Moines river will cause little trouble
large increase has been made in the
structure to take care Of this feature.
Ice on pool does no damage: it is
believed that all the ice above the
dam will stay in that still water until
1t softens and becomes innoccuous.
1t will require about four hundred
years at the present rate of deposit
for silt to accumulate to the height
of the spillway- There is practically
no silt deposited at the big dam in
the Nile at Assouan.
The ice fender will be eight feet
wide at the top and thirty feet wide
at the bottom, with arched openings
in its lower part
Current Transmission and Cost.
The price of power here will be
very materially less than the cost OF
steam power. The price will depend
on the distance from the dam. the
quantity Of current contracted for,
and the steadiness of nse by the con-
sumer, among other things.
About two hundred miles is the
present practical economical distance
for transmitting electric power. Trans
mission for two hundred miles has
only little more loss than for one