El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-10-22
USTIN, Tex Oct. 19.-COnsider-


L y made in the reconstruction Of
the great dam across the Colorado river
near Austin. Under the terms Of the
franchise which the city granted VIII
lam d. johnson, of Hartford, Conn., Tor
the replacing OF this structure and the
installation OF a hydro electric plant the
work shall be finished by November i
1913. The cost OF the dam, power plant
and a 100000 gallon reinforced con
crete auxiliary reservoir IS to be Sl72O,-
O0Q No bonds are to be issued by the
city for meeting this Indebtedness. The
CITY Power company, which Mr.. john
son organized and to which the iran
chise was transferred, IS to receive ITS
paw In instalments OF SlOO,OOO when
the contract is finished and the re
mainder in 25 annual payments Of 1884,
500 each without interest. The city OF
Austin expects to meet these payments
out of the earnings OF the munclpal
waterworks and electric power plants
Dam Of Concrete.
The dam VIII be OF reinforced concrete
construction and of the hollow type Its
length viii be 1921 feet height IS feet,
and the foundation will extend 70 a
maximum depth OF "A feet below the
bed of the river. The dam will form
an artificial lake which viii have
length of about % miles and width
Of 200 to 500 wards. The hydrO-electrlc
plant will have a capacity of 740O horse
power. This energy viii be transmitted
to the municipal waterWOrks plant
three miles and viii be used to operate
its machinery and the surplus VIII pc
available for other power purposes. As
an auxiliary to the river water supply
of the CITY the franchise provides Tor
the construction of a 100000 gallon
reservoir upon a hill lust north of town.
This reservoir viii be lined with rein
forced concrete and divided into tour
compartments
An interesting feature of the dam, as
shown bv the perspective of that strue-
ture. IS a 80 foot roadway which viii
surmOmt It at a height OF several feet
above the crest Besides being used Tor
vehicle and foot passengers the proposed
roadway viii carry tracks for street and
inteTurban car lines
The principle of construction OF the
dam Is that of a proof. reinforced
concrete slab inclined to upstream and
downstream sides and supported on
vertical walls 20 feet apart. These walls
are in turn supported BY cross walls
built at an angle to the horizontal plane.
nearly normal TO the upstream face OF
the dam. and being practically parallel
to the resultant OF all upper pressure
that may come upon the structure.
from a flow of less than 300 cubic feet
PEI. second to extreme floods of about
100000 cubic feet per second. Provls-
ions have been made IN this dam to
take care of this excessive flood flow
without increasing the pressure on the
portion of the old dam which IS being
used as a part of the new structure. In
the total length of the dam about $50
feet viii be built with a crest nine feet
lower than the crest of the old dam, but
the impounded water viii be five feet
higher than the old dam, the difference
in the heights of the crests being pro-
vided for bv automatic gates, those
gates over the portion of the low dam
to be IA feet high and those over the
portion of the old dam to be five feet
Gates on PivOts.
These gates will be pIvOted on a hOrl-
zOntal pivot. The location of this pivot
is so designed that when the water IS
Just five feet above the crest of the old
dam the pressure viii hold the gate YER
tically in equilibrium. but even few
inches of extra height of water viii
cause the resultant OF the pressure on
the gates to rise to such an extent that
the gates VIII turn over, and In times
OF flood these gate vanes viii be IN the
water that is spilling over the crest of
the dam.
Lake Thirty Miles Long.
The lake viii be about 30 miles / NO,
and of great depth. It viii have prac-
tically no current even in times of
floods, and the sediment in the water
viii settle on the bottom. Provisions
for taking care of this deposit are made
bv eight sluice gates located at the bot
tom OF the dam. These gates win be
operated bv hydraulic pressure from the |
electric power house. and may be opened !
and closed at the pleasure of the opera !
tor, and viii serve not only to wash out |
the silt accumulation in the lake. but I
NAV be used for emptyiug the lake
The penstocSs for the turbines viii be I
situated so that the water in the lake [