The Washington herald., 1919-05-04

Is an entireiy 1eaSiDle plan, and al
though an expensive project, would
be an economical one. according to
Charles Francis Wood, engineer,
with Offices in the Fendan Building.
Mr.. Wood, who conducted an ex-
tensive investigation Of the Great
Falls scheme twenty years ago and
has followed every movement since
connected with the development OF
chairman of the Great Falls commit.
tee of the Chamber of Commerce. q
comprehensive plan for the project
Investigated Project.
Twenty years ago when Charles A.
I1eb and Oscar T. Crosby were in
control of the then Washington Trac-
tion Company, including the Potomac
Electric Power Company. and had
purchased rights of the Great Falls
Manufacturing Company. and the
newspapers were full of the purposed
Ilan for the development of the Falls
by the interests represented by Lieb
and Crosby. I made a very exhaus-
tive examination of the history and
possibilities of the proposition. start
ing from the earliest days when
George Washington and others ac-
ouired interests for a power PROPOSE
ton.
Tn running down through the his
tory OF the various projects from pre-
revolutionary times and the then
present / found many interesting
things. and I have followed with in
terest all the propositions which have
been put forward since that time for
such a development
1T was perfectly apparent in the
days when I reported on the project
that 1t was not feasible and could not
and would not be done for two vital
reasons The first was the part own
ership of the United States in the falls
and the water rights az source OF
water supply for the city OF Wash
ington: and second. the necessity un-
der the proposed plan OF maintaining
a steam plant ready for operation at
all times to carry the load during the
freshet periods.
"It was absolutely certain that the
Government of the United States. as
part owner Of the riparian rights.
would never permit private interests
to acquire or develop a power at
Great Falls on commercial lines, be-
cause of the interference with and
pOHSlDit lb llt puDllC
and that no development at Great
Falls would ever be made except by
or through Governmental agencies.
Gorge Proves Hindrnnce.
1T was also definitely certain that
no development at Great Falls
could ever be made profitable which
had to maintain the fixed charges
OF supplementary steam plant, so
that there was not at that time
probability of such development, and
1 so reported.
THE limitation of every plan
which 1 have ever heard put for
ward for the development of such
water power lies in the fact that
the long narrow gorge below the
falls in times of freshet fills with
water and wipes out almost entire
ly the head on the water wheels.
THE long, narrow gorge running
for fifteen miles from the falls 10
tidewater does not and will not
clear itself sufficiently to maintain
head on the water wheels If they
are located at any other point than
at Georgetown. and until some plan
is put forward to bring a power
canal along the Virginia hills and
discharge the water into the river
at tide level opposite Georgetown.
Great Falls. as a source of light.
heat and power for Washington.
will continue as it has been all
along, newspaper story.
The only feasible objection to n
project such as / have outlined is
the first cost. As an engineering
and construction proposition. it is
stroke. eliminate forever all ques-
tions of auxiliary steam plants AMI
their cost and maintenance, and
would bring current in volume and
value sufficient to make the prOpo-
sition economically possible.
U. $. Owns Rights.
The ownership by the government
of a part of the riparian rights makes
certain that no commercial interest
will undertake the construction and
operation of such a project, even were
II possible to finance it. Therefore.
it follows that the government is the
only agency sufficiently Interested and
with sufficienrresource to carry such
a proposition to success, unless some
plan by which private interests could
acquire and control the project could
be had through some provision of the
pending water power legislation.
"As a part of such a project there
should be built above Great Falls a
dam as high as is economically pos
sible without making an excessive
cost to acquire private rights to pre-
vent flooding. 1t is probable that a
forty to fifty-foot dam could be de-
yeloped, by backing water up to the
neighborhood of Harpers Ferry and
creating a pond level which would act
as a regulator for the available flow of
the river. This could bring the
water level at something like 200 feet
above tide by carrying a canal of
commensurate prism along the con-
tours of the Virginia Hills would Sc
cure very nearly that head on the
wheels at all times, regardless of
whether there was a freshet in the
river or not. A variation of a few
feet in the pond level would bridge
the period of low water. making the
capacity more nearly one of the
average flow of the river than of the
minimum flow. which has been the
basis of all the projects heretofore put
forward.
The minimum flow of the river is
not sufficient to develop a capacity
which will warrant the cost of de-
yelopment plus the maintenance of
an auxiliary steam plant. and until
those two items are gotten away