The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-09-02
DAM IN
WORLD BUILDING
To InpOund 4,OOO,OOO,OOO
Cubic Feet Of Water.
WILL Be 3O5 FEET HIGH.

Giant Structure Thrown Across the
Yuba River Is Expected to Double
caIifornia's Water Power When Fin
ished-Expected to Be In Operation
by Jan. I, 1914
In a few months there will be partly
completed In California a dam which,
when entirely finished, will be the
largest in the world 1t is expected
that the structure will reach height
sufficient to allow 1t to be put In opera
ton about the first of the year, but
later on the work will be carried
through to the full extent of the mag
nitude contemplated. The finished pro-
iect will result in more than doubling
the horsepower available in the state,
which on Jan. l, 1912, the records of
the agricultural department showed to
be 100000.
This enterprise is part of the hydro
electric development of the Golden
State. The dam referred to is being
built in narrow gorge of the south
fork of the Yuba river, commonly call
ed the South Yuba, just below Lake
Spaulding, one of the largest of
chain of storage reservoirs owned and
operated on the Sierra range by the
largest public utilities corporation of
California. The capacity Of this lake
tD1 &c, OSn 00n 0nn
but the new dam, which is to be 305
feet high. will have the effect of rails
ing the waters to such height as to
give the lake a storage capacity of just
sixteen times that amount.
Installing Power Plants.
Six power plants are also being con.
structed along the entire length of the
valley country between the Sierra Ne.
vada mountains and the Sacramento
valley. These plants, when installed
70 their full capacity, are expected to
add not less than 100000 horsepower
to this companys electric generating
and distributing system.
An appropriation Of $10,0000OO was
made for this great enterprise. Work
was begun Immediately upon the an
proval of the engineers estimates in
July, 1912, and before the winter sea
son stopped operations the Foundation
of the big dam had been constructed
to the extent of lifting a breast wall
to the waters of the South Yuba at a
height Of thirty-eight feet above bed
rock. From the site Of this dam the
water is to be conveyed by a mile long
tunnel bored through solid rock, which
at the other end discharges into what
is known as Bear river valley, and
down which, at the distance of nine
miles from the lake, stands the Drum
powerhouse, nesting in gorge of the
Bear river underneath a precipice of
1878 feet, down which two pipes will
convey the waters from the ditch
above to the waiting wheels. Work
on this tunnel was carried on through
the winter, and on May last the
gangs Of workmen, laboring from either
end, met in the middle, and the tunnel
is now fully completed.
Origin of Project.
The project had its origin in the pur
chase by the California Gas and Elec-
trio corporation of the properties Of the
South Yuba Water company, which
owned a number of storage lakes, ca
nails and bitches that were originally
constructed for the benefit Of the min.
ing industry in the days before the by
draulic monitor was put out Of com.
mission by California's state law. This
purchase was made in 1905, and only
few months later the company's en-,
gineers went over the ground and Sc.
lected Lake Spauldlng as the best
available site for a storage reservoir
that would be larger by far than any.
thing ever before conceived, let alone
executed, in that region.
Then came the San Francisco fire
and the 1907 panic, and it was not un
til the Pacific Gas and Electric com
pany took over the property and fran
chises of the California Gas and Elec-
trio corporation that the great dam
and its collateral work became practi-
cable. The Pacific company has been
serving with gas and electric power
an extensive region in California, and
the new project will vastly enlarge its
facilities.