Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-04-12


ervoir at Peck's Mill in Somerset, is the
most important, and at present it is GER
tainly the most interesting of all the
power projects now under way on the
Deerfield river. This reservoir is not
designed primarily for the development
of power, but without 1t the efficiency of
all of the power plants would be greatly
reduced. -Ae Deerfeld river Is an i'm
posing stream at this time of the year
when II is running banksfull There is
power enough then, for the course of the
stream is swift and the volume of the
water Is great. But in the summer the
reverse is largely the case. The stream
seems insignificant for such valley, and
it does not have the mad rush that
characterzes it in the spring flood
time. There would then be relatively
little power developed, and industries
using the power would have to shut
down or use auxiliary steam plants. No
investment of capital, such as is now
under way would be warranted on Deer
field river power development unless
some means could be devised to counter
act the waste of flood times and to har-
vest the water then for use in the dry
seasons. 1t is for this purpose that the
reservoir is being constructed at Pecks
MIL on the east branch of the river,
II miles above Wilmington.
The Power construction company, who
have the general contract for the entire
development along the river, have not
| sublet the work at Peck's Mill, but are
| doing it themselves. ]. N II. Cornell
| construction manager of the Power con-
struction company, is giving this work
| his direct supervision, and will probab
| ly spend most of his time there during
| the coming season. E. Med. Moore is
| the resident engineer on the contract
| Work began on this contract late last
| fail, and has continued all winter in
| spite of the intense cold. At present
| such excellent Roadway has been made
| that practically all of what might 'be
called preliminary work has been done,
| and with the opening of spring progress
on the construction of the mammoth
| dam will be rapid. The work is so eX-
| tensve however, that, even though the
| progress is constantly undelayed and as
| rapid as all favorable circumstances
| could make 1t. the job will not be COM
| pleted much before the fall of 1913 In
| the meantime, however. the work will
| be so planned and carried out that con-
| siderable water will be stored so as to
| be available this summer and next.
Dimensors Of Gam and Reservoir.
The east branch Of the Deerfeld river
| at Peck's Mill seems to be an insignifi-
| cant stream to be the cause of such large
| operations. The engineers find that this
| stream will furnish a sufficient supply of
! water for the reservoir so that the flow
| of the entire course of the river can be
governed therefrom. They are in a po-
| sition TO make the careful estimates
based upon stream flow and annual run
| off data from government records and
| elsewhere, and there Is small reason to
| doubt that the stream will respond ac-
| cording to their expectations. At least
| the size of the operations at Pecks Mill
| denotes great confidence and assured eX-
| pectations.
The dam is to be built through the
| centre of the small settlement which was
| known as Peck's Mill. Nearly all of the
| houses have been removed already, and
| when the dam is completed no one who
ever lived there would be able to recog-
| nize the site of his former abode. There
| was formerly small dam across the
| river at this point, furnishing power for
the mill which gave the village it's name
| Both the mill and the village had been
| practically abandoned before the pres
| ent operations were begun. The new
| dam will cover completely the site of the
old one, and much more area besides
The river at this point flows southerly
| The eastern end of the dam will cross the
present direction of the current at right
angles and will continue westerly to a
point nearly in the centre of the ole
village, where II will bend northwesterly
on an angle Of six degrees. The wester-
ly end of the dam will rest on the hill
side, which was northwest of the viii
lage.
60 Acres Of Earth 10 Feet Deep
Required.
The total length of the dam will bt
200 feet. 1t will be 102 feet high a the
highest point and 60 feet on the average
The base will be 600 feet wide, and a
the top, which will be fiat, it will be q
ha n
earth entirely, and it will require G.
acres of earth 10 feet deep to make it
In order to make an earth dam that will
not leak ii is necessary to exercise con
siderable care in the selection and plac
ing of the material No earth contain
ing vegetable matter can be used, and !
is necessary to scrape the site thorough
ly. The material will be placed on thu
dam by the semi-hydraulc method
That is, it will be dumped at the toe
of the dam and from there will be force
into the centre by streams of waite
from the nozzle of hose This metho'
carries the finest particles of earth t
the centre and automatically drops tn
heavier ones near the edges. The waite
also congresses or packs the cart
where II falls The slope of the dam up
stream will be at the rate of one foo
vertical to three feet horizontal and tn
downstream slope will be on a ratio o
| one foot to three. When all OF the cart
has been placed on the dam a grea
number of rocks will be piled on tn
slopes about Is feet deep, especially o.
the upstream side.
viii Create a Lake
Covering 1909 Acres.
The storage reservoir will contain 2,
400, 900 cubic feet of water, and it wi
flood 1890 acres. The site of the lake
a natural basin, about five miles Ions
but the height of the dam will cause tn
water to set back well into the flores
which now lines the shores This tim
Der will all be cut off before that time
however. The sluiceway and gate,
which will control the amount of waite
that will be let down the stream in DIR
seasons will be located at the east en-
of the dam, The trench for this sluice
way will be about 800 feet long, and tn
excavation of il has been the principe
constructive work on the dam during tn
past winter. This excavation is 10 fee
deep in solid rock, and II has take
much dynamite and labor to make i
1t Is now completed, and the work @
putting in the concrete lining is unde
way. The lining will be in the shap
of an inverted horseshoe, 11h feet hig
and IL feet wide. 1t will form TUNE
through which two 4S-nch steel pipe
will carry the water.
Beyond the west end of the dam Their
will be a spillway cut in the solid roc