The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-03-20
ROOSEVELT DELEGATES BIG RE-
ClAMATlON DAM BUILT BY
UNITED STATES.
DAM COMPLETED LAST MONTH
Building of the Monster Dam Will Re-
claim Millions Of Acres of Land
Heretofore Considered as Worth
Iess-Guest of Phoenix Sunday.

Phoenix, Ariz., March lS.-Colohel
Roosevelt and party arrived here at
900 this morning and left immediate
" in autos for the Roosevelt reser-
voir, the big reclamation dam seventy
miles east of here where the formal
dedication took place at 400 o'clock
this afternoon. Many citizens OF
Phoenix accompanied the party.
The last stone in the parapet walls
OF the massive structure was laid
last month and the project is now
complete and will reclaim millions of
land hitherto almost worthless.
Mr. Roosevelt was accompanied on
the long automobile trip by Mrs
Roosevelt and Miss Ethel Roosevelt,
who came to Arizona to visit Archie
Roosevelt, who is now in a private
school at Mesa. A great celebration
is in progress at the town of Roose
welt, where the colonel and his party
will spend the night.
Tomorrow the Roosevelt party Will
motor back to this city, stopping on
the way at Mesa, where the ex-presi-
dent will inspect the school and prob
ably address Arichie's fellow stu
dents. Tomorrow night and Monday
will be spent in this city.
One of the big features of the stay
of Col. Roosevelt in Phoenix will be a
breakfast at which roasted ostrich
will occupy the center of the table,
with an omelet made of ostrich eggs
as the chief dish. A thousand citi-
zens of Phoenix will take part in the
feast.
The Roosevelt dam reclamation
project, which was officially opened
by Colonel Roosevelt today, is stu
ated half mile below the conflu-
ence of Tonic Creek and supper Salt
River. at the head of canyon
through which Salt River flows for
many miles. 1t is the most imposing
feature of the Salt River project, the
first one undertaken by the United
States reclamation service under the
provisions of the reclamation act, ap-
proved by President Roosevelt, June
II. 1902, and after whom the town at
the dam site is named. 1t is 76 miles
east of Phoenix, which is situated in
the center of a valley of which 24O,-
600 acres is signed to the Salt River
Valley Water Users association. This
corporation represents the farmers in
their dealings with the government,
guaranteeing payment of the con-
struction cost of the project.
The dam creates a reservoir extend
ing twelve miles up Tonto creek and
thirteen miles up Salt River nearly
to what is known as the intake dam,
400 feet long. The capacity of the
reservoir is 1,2S4,205 acre-feet, the
largest artificial lake in the world.
Though the dam is not the largest in
the world, it is among the largest.
The foundation rests on bed rock 40
feet below the river level. 1t is 235
feet long, between the canyon walls,
and 10 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 spill
ways are bridged and over the 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 road
way is 20 feet above the highest stor-
age and coping 4 feet high protects
the roadway. From the bottom of the
foundation to the top stone of the cop
ing, is 2S4 feet.
stream and at the top is $50 feet long
and 16 feet wide. The spillways at
either end are 200 feet wide, so the
length, inclusive of the bridges over
the spillways, is 1880 feet. The spill
ways are blasted from the mountain
sides.
The dam contains 339,4OO cubic
yards of masonry, every stone Of
which was washed before it was per-
manently cemented in place. In the
construction of the dam and auxili-
airy works 33S,452 barrels of cement
were used, all manufactured on the
ground at a cost of s1,063,542 in ce-
ment mill erected by the government
and recently sold. The cost was
s3.14 per barrel as against s4.S9 per
barrel, the best private bid available,
when operations began. The manu-
facture OF cement on the ground ef
fected a saving OF s592,300.
The first stone was laid in the