Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-08-02
CROWDS EXPECTED
AT RIVER REGATTA
RACES WILL NOT BE THE ONLY
ATTRACTION At KEokUk
THIS MONTH.
DAM IS OF INTEREST
Project Which Cost $27,Ooo,ooo
Worth Going Many Miles to See;
10 Greatest In the Whole
World.

ottumwa people who 60 to Keokuk,
Iowa, for the annual regatta OF the
Mississippi Valley Power Boat associa-
ton. August 26, 81 and 20, Will see
completed and In operation what
eminent engineers call the greatest
engineering accomplishment on the
North American continent, a project
which in many ways is equal to the
Panama canal. In fact, an inspection
OF the works of the Mississippi River
Power CO. would give the average citl-
! zen very fair idea, indeed. OF the
isthmian enterprise which has cost
Uncle Sam hundreds Of millions OF
dollars.
By damming the Mississippi river Of
what was formerly the Des Moines
rapids to utilize the tremendous flow
Of water in the creation Of over 2OO.-
900 horse power OF electrical energy
to furnish light and power to st. LOUIS,
Keokuk, Hamilton, Warsaw and scores
Of other cities and towns within wide
radius, q great lake sixty-five miles
long and from one and one-haf to
three and one-half miles wide, with an
! area of over 100 square miles, mas
beer created by the backed up waters
of the river. This lake has been named
Lake Cooper" after Hugh L. Cooper,
1.-THE engineer who has directed the
work. It is upon this lake, just above
the dam. where the water Is almost
still and il fifty feet deep, that the
greatest racing boats OF the present
year will compete during the regatta
for American speed records.
Draw Big Crowds.
Mississippi valley regattas have a.
WAYS been among the greatest held IN
America and for the past three or four
wears at Dubuque, Peoria and Daven.
port, between $4,000 and $4,000 people
! from middle western states have gath
cred for the races alone.
This year the regatta will have a
| s27. 900, 900 stage setting--that Is what
| the power project cost-and besides
seeing the races and naval display
| people who attend will have oppor.
tunity to inspect at close range the
project that has brought the most
eminent engineers in the world to the
Mississippi river during the past sew
! eral years, while the work was In
progress.
| Was Immense Project.
! While the work was going ont lie
not vet all completed-the Panama
canal zone could not have produced q
buster spot, or larger machinery, OF
greater efficiency Of operation. To FOL
low the work from it's first stages when
the Golfer dams were sunk into the
river bed to create foundations for the
| great dam, would be long, though In
teresting, story. Some idea OF the size
OF the undertaking may be gained
from the knowledge that there were
$500 men and million dollars worth
OF machinery employed; there wat
used CSC, 900 cubic yards Of cement
Spread over the works was fifteen
miles Of trackage and sixteen locomo
tives. and 142 cars were used. The
| plant, consisting Of dam, power house
lock, dry dock, sea wall. and ice
fender, IL all one concrete "monolith
with a total linear measurement OF tive
and one-half miles The power house
is ! .71S feet long and 1872 feet 10 inches
wide. and 1T feet 6 inches high. The
electrical installation consists Of thirty
units, turbines and generators and
four auxiliaries. In fact, 1t is the
greatest power dam in the world, ener
giving the largest turbines In thu
world in the largest power house II
the world with the largest electrra
installation In. the world. Sixty t.ou
sand of the horse power created Ii
carried into the city Of st. Louis ovel
a transmission line 1877 miles long.
Big Lock Used.
The new dam has rendered
navigable to all types Of boats sixty
lfive miles Of water above, twelve mile!