The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-01-03
Howard Hartung, of Paterson,
N. j., spent New Years with relatives
here.
srArE SUPERVISION Oh DAMS.
PROF. MCkIbDen > IAN to Supervise
DuIluInS UI DaIiIs.

PrOf. Frank 4. MChiUDen, OF the
ClvlI Engineering Department OF Lee
hl6n University, is the autuor oil an
artICle ON state Supervision OF Dams
ana teservoIrs.' 1he artICle Was
puUllsned IN the last number OF the
! Engineering neuoru, aud tollows
in part:
ii state supervision OF the con-
StruCtIon ana operation oil privately
owned dams ana reservoirs De dis
Cussed by Douy OF engineers, 1t
soon becomes apparent tnat the views
expressed cover very wlue range.
Some opinions would be almost
soclallstlc, while others would DC al
most anarchlstlc. some engineers
Deheve that the state should 80 TO the
extreme IN controlling ana superyls-
ing such WORKS as dams and bridges
because failures OF these structures
enuanger lie as well as property. On
the ULner hand, the view tnat the
government or state should exercise
no control whatever over these works
OF engineering is held by not few
men VINO have to 40 with their con-
struCtlOn and operation. State own
ership or control does not prevent ac-
Cldents as has been frequently illus
trated; only recently by a very sad
catastrophe at railroad bridge in
| France. Nevertheless, the state, that
is, the people acting through certain
| officials, should exercise some control
| over structures which involves po-
tential danger from the fact that
they convene great forces OF nature
which if not restrained would cause
loss of life and property. In other
| words, 1T is function of the state to
| exercise some control over powerful
! forces which, because of their magni-
tude and peculiar nature, have inher-
ent danger. AS population becomes
| more dense, state restrictions are the
more necessary. 1t would SEEM
therefore, that between the two ex-
treme views, the proper one must
lie. State supervision properly ad-
ministered is simply an additional
safeguard to life and property, and
| II of such a nature as to be an addi-
! tional factor of safety or to reduce
the possibility or disaster, while not
relieving the owner of his RESPONSE
Dility, it is certainly a very desirable
| thing to have. No one familiar with
the action of state departments or
governmental control or even govern
ment ownership believes that these
are infallible agencies of preventing
Nio"SbSi, DuI lllC SdIS anu sane DOSl-
tion to take is that they will simply
serve as another means of seeing that
the engineers ideas as embodied in
his plans and structures are correct.
In such matters, therefore, as the
construction and operation of en-
/ glneering works such as dams, reser-
voirs and bridges, it would seem
! that private ownership, supplemented
| by an efficient state supervision, is
most desirable.
How can this supervision be best
exercised? Answers to this question
will be greatly varied, but on the
| whole the following arrangement
would seem to produce desirable re-
suits. Let the construction and oper-
alton of dams be under the control
of some state commission, for ex-
ample in Pennsylvania under the
State Water Supply Commission;
and let the commission have power
not only to pass upon plans but also
to exercise a reasonable amount of
! supervision in construction and to
compel the owner of a dam to dis
continue its use when the dam is
| found to be insecure. The details
of such an arrangement could be
| worked out along the following
| lines:
l. Approval of plans before be-
ginning work.
2. Examination of dam during
construction.
3. Report from owners engineer
upon completion.
4. Certificate of operation.
3. Biennial reports.
! To make this scheme operative the
commission must have power to
compel the owner of an unsafe dam
or reservoir to eliminate the danger
by reducing or removing the water
pressure. Furthermore, he should
be prevented from using the dam or
reservoir until adequate steps shall
nave been taken to put the structure
in a safe condition. An interesting
detail in the administration of this
plan would be to fix the minimum
height of dam or the minimum stor-
age capacity of the reservoir which
would fail under the proposed re-
quirements. For instance, in Massa-
chusetts, where the railroad and rail-
way bridge laws impose a method of
procedure somewhat similar to the
outline here suggested, the minimum
span-length considered necessary to
place within the scope of the law is
IS'' ANNb ~ IHt NlCdIs me law Oh
course includes all spans, but ten
feet has been fired by the Railroad
Commission as a practical limit. Ger
tainly some limit must be fixed in the
case OF dams and it seems at first
thought that it should be based on
the reservoir capacity rather than
the dams height. There is every
reason to believe that if wisely ad-
mlnistered some such plan as here
suggested Will prove fruitful of
good results in dam and reservoir
construction and maintenance. Penn
sylvania has witnessed two calami- !
ties within its borders due to destruc-
tion of dams, and this great state
should and no doubt will take proper
precautions for the future. Its
topography is particularly adapted to |
the formation of reservoirs, and
hence there is need of caution in this |
important matter. This state is |
fortunate in having in it's Water Sup
ply Commission a body which is |