The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-02-02
BUILD PIERS AT
WATERS EDGE
In Order to Minimize Heavy Expense
of coffer-Dam Building Water
Power Company is Doing
This Work.
LOCKED TO THE BEDROCK
interesting to Watch the Manner in
Which Concrete is Put In and
How channeIlins Machine
Plays its Part

Pushing rapidly forward under al
most ideal weather conditions marked
advancement has been made by the
keokuk and Hamilton Water Power
company on the Illinois side where
flve hundred men are now at work.
Three concrete piers are nearly com.
pleted; the mixer plant will soon be
ready to turn out the thousands OF
yards OF concrete that will go into the
mile-wide wall; the east abutment
which will lock the dam to the Illinois
shore has been extended out for some
distance. There is a manifestation
of real activity everywhere. Three
steam shovels are blowing up the
grounds in doing work that it would
take many men to perform.
One OF the most interesting fea-
lures of the. work is that which is
gong on at the waters edge. In
order to minimize the expense of
coffer-dam building, which will run
into the thousands of dollars before
the mile-wide dam is completed, the
company is now constructing the con-
crete piers on this part of the works
and will complete number of them
if possible, before the spring floods
come. In order to carry on this con-
struct1on work, however, it has been
necessary to build small coffer-dam
resembling very much the shape of
horseshoe. Within this coffer-dam
these first piers are going up, the
third one being nearly completed.
The piers are about twenty-five feet
apart and are locked solidly into the
bedrock of the river. The manner in
which this is done may be seen. The
mechanical apparatus necessary is
what is known as channelling ma
chine and moves along on improvised
tracks. 1t drills a narrow channel in
the rock bottom into which the con
crete is poured. AS many piers of this
kind as possible will be built before
additional coffer-dam work is neces-
sary. the progress in this direction be-
ing extended toward the east abut-
ment, which by this time is partially
finished. The space between the
piers will be left open until the com
pany is ready to fill them in and build
the bridge upon which the tracks for
hauling materials will be placed.
For the Sightseers.
Probably the most interesting OF the
group of structures which will play
their part during the third months OF
dam building is the concrete mixing
plant. When completed it will be
S0x4o and 100 feet in height Upon
the top will be one Of the advantage
Gus points from which the dam can
be seen, for it will be especially fitted
up as gallery for the accommodation
of sightseers. The plant will be
composed of four concrete mixers of
liz yards capacity. The plant is on
direct line with the dam and the
mixers will be SO situated that the con-
crete may be dumped onto the fiat
cars and transported on the direct
line railway. The concrete will be re-
ceiyed from the plants in buckets,
hauled out to the point where needed,
and lifted from the cars by the trav-
cling cranes at the end of the COM
pleted section. The concrete will be
composed of one part cement, two
parts sand and three of stone. The
two last ingredients will be conveyed
to the plant on elevated railroad
tracks, the cars to be pulled up by a
cable. The cement will come in from
the lower floor at the rate of about
LEGO barrels a day.
The water power company has in
stituted system in it's work that
carries with it almost endless detail,
but will give to the builders thor
ough knowledge OF the actual cost
from every source UP to the time of
its completion. An evidence of this
was seen in the company's warehouse
in which articles are sold and
charged to the respective departments
much after the fashion of a. retail
store Printed forms were shown the
reporter, detailing the manner in
which the various accounts we're kept
In the end 1t will be known the cost
of every phase Of the work
Work of stripping in the quarry
which will cover an area of about
300x500 feet is going on rapidly, as is
the fitting up of the electric light and
air compressor plants. In the machine
shop twenty men were at work. Both
this structure and the wood working
plant will be duplicated on the Iowa
shore
A trip was made yesterday morn
ing by two reporters in company with
Secretary Allen. To thoroughly cover
the works on the Illinois side nearly
two hours were consumed, showing
in measure the extent of territory