Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-03-05
LARGE AMOUNT Of
MASONRY PLACED
At BUTTEP ROGET
Storage Limit of Dam Is Now
88 Per Cent Completes
Closing of Gates Floods
Old Roadway,
tsrtelAl eosassronorros 70 uoamao loOTpAli


ESPECIAL eeasesPonoEncs 70 MORNING iouRNAu
Elephant Butte, March 4.--Fehru-
airy was a busy month with the con-
struction forces at the dam and In the
twcnty-four working days S4,S00 cubic
yards of masonry were poured. TINS
makes the figure for total masonry
in place on February %, $4,000 cubic
yards, ana the storage unit nearly IS
per cent completed.
on February ], when the masonry
had reached such height that it was
no longer practicable TO use the down
stream galloway, still with the re-
duccd force and one less cable an
average daily output Of 1850 cubic
yards was maintained, a figure slight
ly less than that for January
1t Is rather difficult to grasp just
what this means without something
20 compare it with. The ordinary cily
lot is usually fifty feet wide by 125
feet deep. Every day during Feb
ruary such a lot would have been COW
cred a little over six feet three Inches
deep and In the month il would have
been covered to a depth of over $50
feet.
Next Largest Project.
In the year beginning March I,
1914. and ending February 2S, 1915,
$50. 200 cubic yards of masonry have
been placed i'm the dam. With the
single exception of the famous Ken
sico dam in New York, this is prob
ably the greatest amount OF mass con-
crete ever placed in a single struc-
ture i'm the same period.
Continuing our analogy. a city block
is usually 600 feet long and 800 feet
wide. The amount Of masonry placed
i'm the dam during the year would
have covered such city block eN-
actly fifty-sevcn feet deep, or TO a
height of nearly five stories of the
usual business building.
Counting out Sundays July 4,
Christmas. and allowing one day for
the few scattering shifts that were
lost due to bad weather, this amount
was placed at $40 working days. or
an average of better than 1,225 cubic
yards daily.
The lowest block Of the dam is now
at elevation 1900, eighty-siX feet high
er than the bottom of the tlume
closed in January, and 1877 feet above
the deepest point i'm the foundation.
Water Over Old River Bed.
Since the flume was closed in jan
uary, the water level in the lake has
been allowed 90 rise slowly. and the
gates on several occasions have been
closed entirely At present, about as
much water Is being released as is
entering the reservoir. The lake Level
stands at 4251, thirty-seven feet over
the old river bed, and the water now
shows IN the flat below the main
office. The Old wagon road to Englc
will soon be submerged, and auto
parties should be careful TO take the
new Engle road into camp from now
on. This new road is practically com
plete, and will be found much shorter
and less steep than the old one.
Excavation proceeded as usual with
out any developments of interest.
Good foundation is showing with
much less excavation than was orig
inally expected. About 1,400 cubic
yards were moved, making the total
excavation to date, including flume
block. 1876, 500 cubic yards,
The quarries operated with the
same force as during January, and
while they managed to keep up, that
was about all The sand cement plant
ana power plant were also working
to capacity. The sand cement plant
eXcelled its January output All the
gates in the dam have been placed. ,
Tho lower ones have been operated
under working conditions and are nov |
under water to a depth of seventeen !
feet.
The embankment is growing rapid
ly, as an average Of about LOO cubic |
yards are being placed daily. Dur !
ing February there were placed / $500 |
cubic yards OF earth, $500 cubic yards |
of rock, 700 cubic yards of crushed ,
stone, 400 cubic yards Of riprap, and !
the total earth section i'm place Feb !
ruary % was 1890 cubic yards; ,
rock, 27500 cubic yards
Labor conditions have been excel |
lent, ana the weather favorable eX-
cept for q couple of heavy rains.
The number Of employees on the |
main dam during February averaged |
/ ,0GS, and on the embankment, l72,
and 12l head of stock