The farmer and mechanic., 1915-04-20
FIVE HUNDRED MEN AT WORK ON
HUGE CATAWBA RIVER PROJECT
Southern Power Company Island Ford Developing
Hyoro-Eleeuc Horse Power at Cost of Million Quarter
Dolars---About One-Thid Completed
the conveniences and be in the wilds.
Much Material at Hand.

MUCH Mdtefldl Hand.
Into the dam will go one hundred |
and eighty thousand yards Of ma
sonry. Huge granite pieces are be-
ing used. swung hither and yon by |
2O-ton steel derricks 100 feet high |
of which q tower through the field |
Of operations, giving it the appearance |
OF an oil field. Every pieces of rock |
is laid in cement and every nook and |
Granny is bound together with the |
same. The rock which is being used |
is largely yielded from the excavation
being made for the tail race and there |
! is another quarry just upstream from
the dam. The Hardaway Construc- |
ton Company, which has the contract
| has found all the material it needed
right at hand, except lumber and ce
! menr. Sand IS pumped from the river
| bed and transported on hatteaux to
| the site. Dinky lines criscross the
| grounds, transporting sand. rock and
| concrete with clOck-like precision OF
cement, there is an incredible quantity
| The warehouse has capacity OF 1O,-|
900 barrels: and supply approximate
, ing 5000 barrels is constantly in it,
while trains daily bring car shipments
from Steele's siding on the Southern
| hallway, four miles down the river.
The towering crusher and mixer turns
out $4,000 yards daily. From it the
| finky cars distribute the concrete TO
the various parts of the dam. The
slkillfui derrick men swing their loads
about as easily as a man handles his
arms and place their loads with all
the nicely Of hand work. Every der
rick is operated by compressed air.
4 rather new development; and every
, thing else on the place is run by COM
pressed air except the compressor it
| self. which is operated by electricity
brought from the Southern Power
| CO1nDHHV'S
eral hundred miles in extent.
: The HardaWay Company. which has
equipment on the grounds worth
100000. began placing it's apparatus
2 as soon as the ShOrt-line railroad was
s completed over a year ago. At that
time. the site now occupied was not
obtainable, and the preparations fol
, construction were all made a mile VI
: the river. where machinery was placed
f and houses for wOrkmen built. The
r trouble was that the Is acres controll
: ing the present dam-site were held
e at a price that the Southern Power
e Company was unwilling to pay. Blu
g after work had actually commenced a
n the northern end Of the island. tn
t price Of the 18-acre tract fell and th'
( company purchased; and then moved
everything to the present Lookout.
II But for this, it is possible that tn
e company would have built it's power
1 mouse On the NdldWDd sue Ol LII
II river, but already having everything
y n Iredell, it decided to put the bust
|. ness end Of the dam on that shore
Ie However. if an elderly citizen familia
% with the county lines is correct, tn
e whole construction is still in Catawbs
!, for the north bank of the stream a
% that point is declared to be the count
~ line. It is an item Of taxation that
- interesting both to Iredell and Ca
N tawba.
ar The history Of the idea Of develop
Il, ing water-power at some place alon
w the river in this stretch Of the streaT
KS rOes back to pioneer days The rive
i'll falls 80 feet in nine miles. Lookou
)v Shoals proper are upstream from Is
i'll land Ford. There the river spread
ne out over a wide expanse Of rock an
ne falls rapidly, more so in one mile tha
IN at any other point. Coolomee inte1
ch ests obtained rights on the stream an
he years ago the Southern Power Con
pany bought them, added to them an
today owns around 5000 acres on bot
lit sides Of the river for distance som'
he thing near eight or nine miles.
at There will fall upon the three 10
lily 900 horsepower water wheels the fu
nd weight of the river impOunded by tF
zig 23-fOot dam and approximately 81, O(
en- hydrO-electric horsepower will
ut. generated with the usual 25 per cen
Op margin LOT OVeTlOdu iIS Will LII y
ne about as much energy into the circu
ng Of the company as any or the oth
nd plants. and with the new F1shI1
TX Creek station, will bring the tot
he horse power Of the Southern Pow
Company to about 100000. Gre
de Falls and Rocky Creek, on the c
is tawba, each give $4,000; ninety nine
zen lands, S. c.. yields $4,000: Cataw'
will River Station, 5. c.. 10000; stea
nat plants at Greenvllle, ). G., Greensbo
I'VE and Mount Holly. N. c.. each vie
the 10000 horsepower; and Fishl
,od Creek will give 10000. It will be Sc
ere that much the larger part OF this
der manufactured by the Catawba Riv'
md which furnishes sites everywhere t
ap- | development. 1t teens with untam
his energy and still greater developme
,si- will yet take place along it's course.
ich Company Has Immense Holdings.
cry In making its nurchaSe. the Soul