The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1911-03-24
ROOSEVELT DAM OPENED Up
THE An VALLEY IS FLOODED
Waters From the Dam VIII Vii BE o'''
to Irrigate About 25o'o0o A''''
of Land.

,ooro7t Ariz.-standing on top n
noo' noo+ storage dam, which pear
OF 'ne former President Tneouole +
roosevelt Saturday presSeu "n .,on i
tric hutton, which set IN llU p.ah IN
.a,o If grinding machinery Whl'n ;, Va,
n@ mas raicpd three of the SIX maSSI,s
iron gates weighing O ro:o1,r nnen.
anioce BY this act he o1hclanS 'p port
E az mo Roosevelt storage DAM d pa
ot the Salt River irrigation proJer,,
u T sh motors which raise the sa.eS
- hordlv hegun to turn before 'n'ee
r roaing torrents of water came l" aif
in9 through the three openlnsS az tho
tne levels and ran madly down INC
I1Inr whore after racing fully slA'S
Sa,io' :. will he used in the lrrlsa-
hlll''' ohort 25o 900 acres of land.
The dam has been about h'e Se",s
h,ildinq The foundation was SUI
~ Nav 10, 1904, The flFst S'ont t
we laid Sept. 20, 1906, and the l"S'
Stone was placed in position rev. w. ",
1o11 The structure is declareu ~ ~
- ,oroost storage structure VI iC'
I'D in the United States, and VIII
NO oxception, the largest III Vns
n,d # is exceeded in size oni'
nv the Assuan dam on the hlSel , AVN, ~
" There are $4,000 cubic yardS y
masonry in the dam, according 10 sn n
rocords Of the reclamation service Oh
100000 barrels OF cement mahuia a;nit
nd from material found IN tne 'ioini'
Toro used in it's building. Inc s'lu
twro ie Of sandstone and cement a.
risas 2S4 feet above the river: l.
1880 feet long on top anu ~ sron,
thick at its base. An acre VI siou.
!, covered by the foundation aion
Running along the top, wnicn Is =
length of about two city piocKs' 10
roadway 20 feet wide on
The dam forms a reservoir '"en +
eya miles long and more tnan
goot deem, Its capacity IS appi'
mstelv 56,62S, 100000 cubic feet o.
cording to the offices OF the ree'a,
tion service, enough water 10
merge the tate of Delaware IN va
one foot deep. iii
The waters from the dam Will
,,,od IN irrigate about 25O,O0o d.
~ land in the Salt River valley "A
tho water leaves the dam, and De
u reaches the point where II Is u
wood if flows a distance OF ABOUT
49, niles II is distributed throug
the land to be irrigated ny iie"n
a diversion DAM -,
The valley, it is said, will be-
one of the richest agricultural Va
in the world. Crops can De Il
twelve months in the year. IL
+imated by C. J. Blanchard, sts
cian for the reclamation service
one full crop from this Vaiies
equal more than the entire cost
irrigation works. He oeciareu
Iond that was not worth one Gel
acre before the project was
since it's completion has arls
value from 500 to $1,000 an acl
The six massive gates o.
which will control the outlet
waters of the dam, each welgn
mounds. They measure feet
wide by 10 feet high. They
vided into three regular ana
emergency gates; the latter
used only in cases OF extreme
The original town OF ho'
which was built by the Peep
went to the dam to work, now
der about 220 feet OF water.
cessor has been built higher u
mountain slope.
The government road, whlcl
necessary to build before Worl
dam could begin, was guarde
day for every mile of its lengt
vide against any possible mis-
was cut for greater part
length, out of solid rock, ar
~ the edge of precipes at dizzy