The Springfield herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) 1887-1919, 1913-01-24

routes to the countries of Central
and South America. is being built
a giant water power plant which must
greatly affect for good not only Its i'm
mediate environment, the Mississippi
valley, but the whole nation and all
the nations in Pan America. The CO.
lossal size of the water power there
would cause appreciable effects any
where in the world. and it is located
almost exactly at the point where Its
commercial influence may be exerted
most easily and effectively upon
world commerce.
The achievement nearing compile
ton Is the damming of the mighty
Mississippi river, Harvesting it to tur-
bine wheels and electric generators
and distributing its tremendous power
over one hundred miles and more OF
the most efficient portion of the
United States on a direct traffic line
to the rest of the western hemisphere.
1t is not only an unparalleled engin-
eering achievement. but also perhaps
the greatest single economic force
flung into the world by the hand OF
man, excepting only the Panama
canal.
Nearly Mile Long.
The basis of the water power de-
velopment at Keokuk, in the south
eastern corner of the state Of Iowa.
is great dam extending for nine
tenths of mile from the Illinois blum
to its junction with the titanic pow
er house near the Iowa shore. Thif
dam is composite structure Of lis
arched spans. all alike, with piers sia
feet thick thirty feet apart. and spill
ways in the spans. all alike. ovel
which the water will dow. This dan
is a monolith of massive concrete sci
down several feet into the hard rocl
bottom Of the Mississippi. but i'm
pounding the water by its immense
| weight The structure. with the ex
terror appearance of bridge. Is s.
feet high. AZ feet wide at the bottom
and 29 feet wide on top; the spillways
between the piers are 80 feet high. al
the width of the dam at the bottom
have vertical upstream faces. and
their downstream face is an ogec
curve which delivers the water at the
bottom horizontally to the river cur
rent. On top of each spillway will be
a steel gate II feet high. By varying
the number OF these gates. which are
open and closed. the amount Of water
flowing over the dam will be regulat
ed, with the result that at varying
stages of the river the pool above the
dam will have always an unvarying
depth and its surface will always re
main at the same place.
The water wheel itself is another
example of overcoming the impossi
BILE, for experts said that it was i'm
possible to build turbine which
would meet the unusual conditions
there. But Chief Engineer Cooper
called a council of war and little
later rose from the head of that table
with new design of turbine which
tests show has SO per cent. OF eff.
cheney as compared with the next best
result ever attained OF 80 per cent
and a textbook figure of rs per cent
Of efficiency as the norm to be used
in engineering calculations. The 80
turbine wheels in the Keokuk power
house are several times as large in
| dimensions as any ever made before.
Each Is at the lower end of a shaft rs
inches in diameter. on the upper end
of which is the revolving part OF the
electric generator standing on the
power-house floor. The revolving
shaft, with its machines at each end.
weighs about $4,000 pounds. and 1t
Is supported on one bearing which is
fabricated by forcing oil between its
surfaces at pressure Of $50 pounds
to the square inch. From this bear
ing a steel cone carries the weight to