Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1916-12-07
.Harnessing Klamath
River at COpcO

Thirty-five miles from the city of
klamath Falls, in a direct line, and
within two miles of the Oregon bor-
der, great work is in course of com
struction, which, when completed,
will develop thousands of horsepower
of electrical energy to fill adequately
all present and future demands with
in the territory contained in southern
Oregon and northern California.
An enormous dam structure is be-
ing thrown across the Klamath river
at Copco by the California Oregon
Power Company in its work of in
stalling a great hydro-electric devel-
opment to meet the requirements of
our growing community.
The location of this big power
plant will be in the center of the dis
tributing system, covering $50 miles
of territory and giving electrical SER
vice to thirty-four cities and towns
in southern Oregon and northern
California.
This dam, when completed, will be
90 feet thick at the water line, 1926
feet high, 20 feet thick on top and
400 feet across from one side of the
canyon to the other.
Just below this enormous strdc-
ture a power house is being built
where two large generators will be
installed, each of the capacity of
over 12,50O horsepower.
The foundation for this dam ex-
tends 1875 feet below the water level
of the river and over 100000
pounds of cement has been used in
its construction up to the present
time.
In finally deciding upon a site
which would he secure beyond the
possibility of doubt, the engineers of
the California-Oregon Power Com
pany spent many months in the can
yon examining the geological forma-
tions and testing the firmness of va
rious locations in order to ascertain
the most suitable place for the dam.
At the point where the dam is now
being built, the andersite formation,
which is the Oldest rock formation
known in geology, crosses the Klam-
ath river, and as a preparatory meas
ure, and in order to determine that
no cracks or break in the formation
existed, two shafts were sunk in this
hard rock and on either side of the
river, and in the bottom of each
drills were set up and core samples
were taken for long distances in all
directions to find out if this spot was
absolutely safe to hold the weight of
the dam and water pressure.
The heaviest piece of machinery to
be installed in the power house is the
rotatOr in each wheel. It weighs So
600 pounds, and in order to deliver
the vast amount of machinery, ma
terial and cement, the California
Oregon Power Company purchased
the old road of the Pokegama Lum-
Der Company, which gave rail con-
nection with the Southern Pacific at
Thrall, thirteen miles down the river
from where the dam is being con-
structed, and by building a spur from
this branch railroad train loads of
material are delivered directly at the
construction works.
A very interesting problem is being
solved by the use of volcanic cinders
to supply the necessary sand cement
in the concrete work. For a long
time the company engineers were
baffled by being brought face to face
with a condition that no sand in suf-
ficient quantities existed in the
where the dam was to
be built, but after series of tests,
both by the company's chemists and
those of the university, it was ascer-
tained that the volcanic cinders con-
tained in a cone nearby substituted
perfectly for sand and made an ideal
mixture, and as a result of
his fortunate discovery a great ex-
aviation can be seen in the mountain
side, where acres are taken away of
his volcanic material to the mixers
lbove the works.