Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1913-08-23

celebration opens Monday with COVER
nors' day. when executives en- route 10
the governors. conference al Colorado
Springs are expected 10 attend. but
the dedication ceremonies do not take
place till the following day. An elao-
crate program has been arranged
The total quantity OF concrete N
this work all one massive MonoElh,
is almost exactly equal 10 the masonry
m the great pyramid OF Cheops. AL
the work of construction was done IN
Ger the srr.c, supervision Of the United
States army engineering corps.
Forty Years of Effort.
This water power development n the
very center OF the Mississippi valley,
where the states OF Iowa. Illinois ana
Missouri join, IS the result o. ha.o
work for forty years by the people
trlera bouts who finally were successlu!
in inducing capital 20 attempt what -or
many wears vas considered Impossible
or improbable. The citizens OF heo'
kik and Hamilton, H, Induced con-
gress 10 pass the franchise act when
President Roosevelt signed and then
spent four years in trying 20 IND the
capital TO build the s2l 100000 P.an',
after they discovered an engineer cap
able OF constructing IL The WORK IS
looked upon by the people OF tnat sec
ton as peculiarly their own, alIho they
own none OF the capital stock whoa
was subscribed in New England Can
ada, England. Belgium, France ana
Germany.
Deep water navigation now is made
possible for sixty-iise mics -
mississippi Including stretch Of river
hitherto impossible except thru gov
eminent canal with three locks which
cost $50. 900 20 operate and IS rendered
unnecessary By the lock and the lake
above the dam. The United States
gets many millions of usufruct as The
price for allowing The river to De
damned at the foot of the old rapids
which are now the bottom Of the lake.
outrivals Al Others Threefosd.
The dam IS three times as large 5
the next larges, single .nstalla ton OF
water wheels in the world. II COM
prises thirty turbines and electric gen
orators which produce total Of over
200. 900 horse power on the shaft con-
meeting them. Besides the dam there
is a power house, a lock. dry dock
sea wall and an ice fender, all of large
cross section and with total length OF
ten feet less than two miles and ha!t
Of massive concrete.
The dam stretches nine-tenths Of 2
mile across the Mississippi from the
Illinois blun into which il is tied TO lis
junction, with the power house on the
Iowa side Of the river. Ii e fifty
three feet high, forty two feet wide on
the bottom and twenty-ntne feet vide
on top, and consists Of 1i9 archeo
spans. each thirty feet between six-foo,
piers. In each span is a spillway -hir-
ty-,wo feet high, topped by steel gate
eleven feet high. BY opening and clos
ing a variable number of these gates
the water above the dam is kept at
certain height and sufficient water 70!
navigation below is always passed thru
the dam.
Power House Equals skyseraper.
The power house is a third OF mile
long, half city block wide and q:
high as a fifteen-srory shyscraper, II
feet, It's basement Is massive con
crete with passages for the water K
flow thru the thirty turbines into tai
race along the opposite side which va:
excavared twenty-five feet into tn
hard limestone bottom Of the river ant
into which all the works are keyed
Each water wheel Is several times a.
large in dimensions as the largest eve
built before. and each had TO b
brought to Keokuk on a specially bull
steel car and routed to avoid bridge
and even then the railroads had {
remove the water tank spouts 20 ALLOW
each turbine 20 pass. Half the powe
house is now completed, and tbs otne
half is under way, economy being con
served by starting operation Of hal
Of II as soon as possible.
immense Power Developed.
The total quantity of power produce
on the turbine shafts on the entir
power house is more than is used 70
manufacturing in Missouri. and one
fourth the quantity used in UanufactuT
ing in Illinois. including Chicago and il
environs. This waterpower converte
into electricity is intended TO be use
in manufacturing in the new powe
zone along the Mississippi extendin
from Burlington, Iowa, 20 St Louis
which latter city takes 10000 hors
power of current over a transmissio
!. Zine carrying Il at 10000 volts. FOL
Madison. Iowa. Quincy and Alton. III
and Hannibal, No, are other cities
the power zone II Is not the inteatio
to build any more transmission line
than those north and south from Kec
kuk which are now in operation kec
kuk and Hamilton at opposite ends {
the great dam get their current witho,
stepping 1t up to the high voltage {
the st. Louis Transmission line.
Look Belongs to Government.
Below the power house and betwee
Il and the Iowa shore is the new loo
built by and entirely at the cost
the power company to become II
property Of the United States upc
- cemnle.ion It was put into commi
sion June II and has the same Wild
rs the Panama locks and q lift on
third higher than any one lock on u
isthmus. the width being 10 feet az
The lift forty feet It's lower gates a
n foot longer and three feet thick
than those at Panama. to enable the
10 withstand the higher head Of wate
Between the lock and the Iowa sho
IL the dry dock which is not yet cor
p3eted. It is 1 per cent smaller th'
the one in the Brooklyn navy yard al
Ike the lock becomes the property
the United States when completed
Raiiroad Tracks Moved.
Along the Iowa side Of the fore5ay
Che sea wall Of concrete. nifty to seven
feet higf, which protects the she
there and especially the railroad tract