Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1911-12-15

row valley and the current is swift At
this point the boundaries of the towns of
Charemont, Colrain and auckland meet.
The river here takes a sharp turn, almost
a right angle, to the north, its eastern
progress being blocked there by a small
hill which rises about 600 feet above the
sea level. The river flows northerly
through deep ravine then bends to the
east, receiving at that point the waters
of large tributary, the North river,
which also rises in Vermont and drains
big area. From the mouth of the North
river the Deerfield flows almost due south.
At the point where it makes its sharp
bend to the north the first of the present
power projects is to be built. This is
called contract No. A.
The southerly course of the river is in
terrupted in the village of Shelburne Falls
by an abrupt plunge. Here the river
rushes over a great ledge, and 1t is from
this that the village has derived it's
name. The drop in the river bed is about
60 feet in the course of about a quarter
of a mile, and at this point contract No.
is now under way, From Shelburne
Falls the river flows south of east, and
the valley continues steep for about 10
miles. This section of the river is ca
pable of almost indefinite power develop
ment and it is probable that dams will
be built there eventually as close together
as the back-water area of each will per-
nit During this part of its course the
Deerfield receives the waters of several
important tributaries, so that the volume
is constantly increasing. Among these
are the Bear river and the South river,
both of which rise in Conway In that
section of Deerfield known as West Deer
field the valley begins to widen and at
that point it is know as saltwater Here
power project is now being developed,
but it is said that it has no financial
connection with the developments up
stream. From saltwater the course of
the river is northerly, approac hing
Greenfield, and it flows placidly through
the wide Deerield meadows, from which
it empties into the Connecticut to the
southeast of Greenfield. 1t receives the
waters of the Green river a large tribu-
tary, south of Greenfield, but that in
creased volume is hardy available for
power purposes in the present stage of
hydro electric development.
While the volume of water and rapid
ity of the current largely determine the
possibilities of power in a stream, still
there are recognized fundamentals which
are studied by hydro electric engineers,
and which indicate whether or not the
investment will pay. Rivers are survey
ed and mea sured in "second-feet" of
running water, that is, the amount of
water in cubic feet which passes a given
place each second. When stream is
being studied for the purposes of power
how much water falls each year on the
watershed above the place where a dam
would be built, and what proportion runs
off through the river. The streams which
are usually best adapted to power de-
Velopment are generally most subject to
freshets and extreme drouth. Both of
these phases represent waste of power,
and must be overcome to a certain de-
gree in order TO insure a successful in
vestment. Floods can be abated some
what by scientific reforestation of water
sheds, but that is process requiring
many years to perfect and usually it ne
cesstates the ownership of vast stretches
of tributary land. Storage dams at the
headwaters will do the same work in a
degree that usually gives the power
owners sufficient control over the natural
waste of the stream. 1t is, therefore,
necessary to determine how much of the
unnecessary flood water can be stored up
for release in dry times. The huge stor-
age reservoir in Somerset is to do this
work for the power plants in the Deer
field valley.
Hydro electric engineers usually meas
ure the energy of a river in kilowatts,
but the popular mind still clings to the
more familiar term horse power" by
which we have been accustomed to rate
waterwheels, steam engines and automo-
biles. Most of do not know exactly
what horse power" means, but we use
1t, nevertheless, because it seems to rep
resent the pulling power of one horse,
and is so familiar that we can all use it
safely. a horsepower is the power
needed to lift $50 pounds one foot in one
second. Measured in electric energy it is
746 watts. a kilowatt is 1000 watts, or LIZ
horse power A cubic foot of water
weighs 62.5 pounds. Therefore, SIS cubic
feet falling one foot each second are
equal to horsepower. But in common
estimates it is usually figured that ~
second feet for every foot of fall consti-
tutes one se-power. The increase in
secondfeet is made because the energy
that is lost in the mere action of general
ing ma chinery would make it impossible
for SIS cubic feet actually to generate one
horse power These, briefly are the
principles which underlie the power de-
velopment of any stream.
No power development would be FEAST
BILE along this stream unless practical
methods could be devised to store the
waters of the floods near the source,
and with them exc out the dwindling
stream in the days when the rains come
not and when the sun is an oppressor.
A mommoth dam is to be built on the
East branch of the Deerfeld in Somerset,
and there will be impounded a great
volume of water to care for the river in
dry seasons. This dam work will not be
sublct by the Power construction COM
pany, but will be built by themselves di-
rectly. 1t will be situated at a place
called Peck's mill, and the reservoir will
be called the Peck's mill reservoir. 1t is
expected that the reservoir will cover
1900 acres, and that it will have a capaci-
ty of approximately $500, 900, 900 cubic
feet. The dam will be built of earth en-
tirely. 1t will be one mile long, 100 feet
high, and 500 feet through the base. 1t
will slope to the base line with about
equal angles. The top will be fiat Pre-
liminary work on the dam is already I'M
der way, and actual construction will be-
gin soon.
The contract known as No. 4 includes
not only the usual dam and power sta
ton but a tunnel 1900 feet long straight
through a hill of solid granite. There
will be a head of 60 feet at the outlet of
the tunnel and 5000 horse power will be
developed at this point. The tunnel
which will be 10 feet high, will be lined
with concrete. Power from the station
in Vernon will drive the big air COM
pressors which will be used in building
the tunnel.
Contract No. will be for a dam and
power station at a site where the water
PUSHES over great lodges of rocks and
cascades down 40 to so feet. Power has
been used here over a century and 1t has
been controlled by the Lamson & Good
now company of Shelburne Falls since
1887. This company has developed 800
horse power. but with the new dam and
modern machinery the development will