The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1915-09-24
ELECTRICITY PLAYED AN
IMPORTANT PART IN
BUILDING DAM

BOISE. Idaho, Sept. 23,-CouId
benjamin Franklin have seen the af-
iect the little key he tied to the k;te
lad IN revolutionizing irrigation nro-
Ject construction, as it has revoln-
tlonized almost everything else he
would have witnessed human he;nas
working like ants in a great CAVITY a.
night above this city boring into the
very bowels of the mountains under
the powerful play of searchIight
Ahey were helping to make a great
excavation below the Boise river he'd
SO that the highest dam in the world
the Arrowrock, could be anchored 70
solld grants base. His discovery of
eiectricity, made it possible to build
thls dam In record time or in four
years at cost of FIVE millions of dol
lars. 1t stands completed TODAY. A |
masterpiece to the engineering pro-
feSslon and its formal dedication in
which Boise and all Idaho will low
tully participate, will take place on
October 4 with proper ceremony. It's
construction means the irrigation of
an empire, 100000 acres OF land in
western Idaho.
a coal mine not being available in
l9lz when work on the dam was start |
ed, the Reclamation Service engineers
in charge, F. F. Weymouth, superyis-
ing engineer, c. H. Paul, construct
ing engineer and James Mum, super
lntendent of construction, to whom
credit is due for the project and dam
building, proceeded to harness the
WatterPower going to waste in the
BOISE river 10 miles below the dam
site, to provide power for the great
steam Shovels which had to be operat
ed, tor other power purposes as we'll
as for lighting. Coal would have
been too expensive for this purpose
and the supply uncertain. Water
was plentiful and close at hand.
They erected the Boise hydro-elec-
trio power plant primarily for con-
struction purposes at what is known
as diversion dam, the point where
water released from the great dam
above is diverted into the main canal
Leading to the lands of the project
50 to ~ miles below. The dam and
project finished, the electric plant
stands valuable asset for both. 1t
is built of concrete and steel at a |
point on the river where a 25-foot
fall is secured. 1t consists of three
Allis-Chalmers US horsepower hydro
lie turbines, each with direct connec-
tions to an Eva generator. Its cap
acity is from $500 to 5000 horsepower.
The output is 3-phase, 60-cycle, alter
mating current at 2300 volts which is
transmitted from the station at e.
600 volts.
Without this power construction
of the dam would have been made
doubly difficult. With it the power
question, an important one in their
construction, was quickly solved
Transmission lines were built both to
the dam and to project points. 1t
kept dredges at both places busy for
several years. When the problem of
building bitches for a drainage dis
trict came up, the power from the
plant supplied the electric dredges.
A record was made in the dam con-
strNction, credit for the record is
largely to electricity for with it feed
ing into powerful searchlights it was
possible to keep night shift on the
job-and so we'll was the light dis
tributed that the men worked as we'll
as in the daytime. Two other shifts
proceeded the night shift, which went
on at o'clock p. m, having had
breakfast at 4:30 p. m. From two to
three hours after they had been at
work, the search lights were turned
on. Their powerful rays carried
across the deep canyon Tightening up
the cableways, struck the hoppers
where the concrete buckets dumped
and played about and on every avenue
of occupation. Arc lights were pulled
out over the works on cables stretch
ed overhead. Clusters of incandes
cents, with an arc here and there,
lighted up the railway There were
no dark corners within the limits of
activity for the artificial light was ap-
parently as good as Old Sol himself
could provide. When it is realized
that close to 500 men composed the
shift and had almost as many diff
cult duties to perform while danger
to life and limb was always possible,
the advantage of electrical energy so
used can be appreciated. Without
abundance Of electrical energy for the
searchlights, a third shift would have
been impossible and the great dam
would not stand completed today. The
plant also furnished all the electricity
for lighting the town of Arrowrock
which sprung up below the dam and
had population of $4,000 people for
four years. Today it has practically
disappeared. 80.
The Arrowrock dam stands 348.s
feet high, 90 feet of which is below
the bed of the river anchored to solid
granite. through which series of
holes were bored to a depth Of from
30 to 20 feet and grouted with con-
crete under pressure to prevent any