The Arvada enterprise. (Arvada, Colo.) 1908-1970, 1917-06-07

to those ignorant Of engineering an
earth dam may seem temporary ex-
pedlcnt, although most Of the great lr-
rigatlon dams of the world are of that
character; and everybody knows that
II the water should rise high enough to
overflow an earth dam 1t would not last
longer than 1t takes to describe its
utter giving way. A flood would sweep
it out Of the way at once.
The device whereby possible floods
are controlled and such dangers avert
ed, consists OF Il broad channel ut one
side Of the dam, and at such dis
lance below its crest that II, through
any mischancc or natural happening
such as the failure Of the sluice gates
excessive rains, cloudbursts, or floods,
the height OF the water is increased
until 1t promises to overflow the DAM
this opening will carry off the surplus
harmlessly. An earth dam without Il
spillway would presage almost certain
destruction to all who lived in the val
icy below it.
In the case of the Picket Wire dam,
the spillway had to be cut and in part,
blasted out of the mountain side-that
Is, through the spur Of the mesa. which
reached down from Its high wall
towards the narrOws. There had been
n series of blunders and mishaps,
which included the explosion of ship
mcnt of dynamite on the railroad, with
very disastrous consequences to accom-
panylng rock crusherS and mixers, and
other machinery. The spllway h, d not
been completed. It's opening should
have been about twelve feet below the
level OF the dam. Vandcventer was not
responsible, of course. The chief engi-
neer had fumcd and protested. but had
been directed by headquarters to 20
ahead with the other work and tackle
| the spillway later. There was. indeed,
little reason to hold up the building of
| that particular dam because of the
noncompIetlon of the spillway.
That was II country, so the most de-
voted inhabitants freely admitted. in
which it was always safe to bet that
!. would not rain, no matter how
threatening might be the appearance
of the sky; for in ninety-nine times out
Of hundred the negative would win
the bet. Said inhabitants did not say
the hundredth time might compensate
for all the other failures. The weather
was like the little girl with the pro-
verbal curl-when II did rain there
was no doubt In anybody's mind as to
hn la, fpfn OF
the great deep, which, in Holy Scrip
turc Mt least, extended overhead, would
be broken open and the violence of the
, fall and the quantity of 1t, and sudden
ness OF 1t, would be such that the West
crncrs would graphically call 1t
"cloudburst," which, indeed, 1t seemed
| to be.
Outside the rainy season cloudbursts
We're unheard Of, and even in that sen
son extremely rare. For the valley
OF the Picket Wire and in the plain
beneath carefully tabulated reports OF
the rainfall for years had been consid-
cred by the engineers. They had cho-
sen the right season for the building
Of the dam, but when It's crest began
to rise above the designed level OF the
spillway the delay in opening the chan
mol gave couso for some alarm II ia
not the probable or certain that Is
feared. An old version that, OF "omne
ignotum pro magnificent Is only the
unknown OF which men are afraid. or
only the unknown to be feared Still
there was nothing Nnndevcnter could
do but obey orders and go ahead. The
danger, after nil, was trifling. Another
consequence OF the waiting was that
IN his inability TO work on the spill
way. he had more hands to devote to
the dam and 1t rose the quicker.
The shane OF the country behind II
was such that when the Picket Wire
flowed with sufficient volume to I'LL II,
n long lake going back through the val
ley, or canyon, and twisting among the
hills for some miles would result. In
other words, the dam would make
beautiful artificial sheet OF water bor-
dered on one side by high range or
hills, on the other by the DAM and on