Norwich bulletin., 1922-11-11

Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Florence, Ala, had large RQpulations for cities like these during the war. Sheffield | lloRe had 40,eep residents, while the | nitrate plants were being built. Men !
 ;lept in tents in the city streets and |
 we're glad of any sort of a chance t9 |
 est. Today Sheffield is presumed to l
 ave a population of about eight thou | md. During the war Florence housed 1000 people. Today has been reduced accordingly in size. h war days the government had g payroll of 65,0D0 men housed in and around these three cities. But Florence, today, there is no
 great influx of people because of the
 building of the dam, nor will there be on account of that construction work. The men at work today are being paid at the base rate of S2.50 per day, but, as this is a government payroll, and congress has granted a bonUE to l government workers, they actually re- ceiye about SS.20 per man Der day ay- | craze. This means an expenditure of | about $4,O00 per day for labor. But | cement, lumber, coal, reinforcing steel
 and other materials are being pur-
 chased, eating into the appropriations. l All the big machinery for the elec- | trical power installations was bought
 long ago. This big machinery tech
 nically described as four units, each l consisting of g, GOO horsepower tur- pines, capable of generating all te- gether -120,e09 horse power, is on the ground, ready to be installed. So far
 as construction machinery is concern
 ed, there is equipment of that char acter on the dam works which has
 been inventoried at S5,000, ,0O0, and,
 therefore, nothing in that line, with
 the exception of tow-boat, has been
 needed, and that has just been bought
 Colonel W. J. Bardep, corps of en-
 gineers, United States army, is in
 charge of the dam builders. He has
 been able to retain during the idle
 period a small nucleus of the civil ian engineering force and is now
 searching for few more high class engineers but is unable to locate them
 probably for the reason that the gov
 ernment does not pay very high sal:
 aries to skilled technical men. Int ; work. of building the dam, under Col. onel Barden, is divided into two parts , One consists of control of the dan , proper, which is a little more thar half the distance across the river, anG Is known at construction' division mum , Der one, Lieuten9nt Colonel ". c
 Weeks, United States engineers ii F in charge of that and is also in chsrEt l of the engineering staff of the office 7 The other part consists of construc ? ton division number two, which in l cludes the work of the power house r and that is in charge of Major JohI
 s Butler, United States engineers f Captain Ralph Mills, United State g engineers, has just been added to tn r starr, and he is in. charge of ae
 counting and disbursing
 I The work will go on all througi r the winter under the programme, be I cause there uEually is no ice wort T speaking of in the Tennessee. Ther n was something in the nature of a
 ice-jam at Muscle Shoals in 1877 an n 4sIS' but, as a rule, the winters ar q open. Aside from weather question, e however, the dam builders are find S Ing a problem in the supply of con = crete aggregate to use a technics 7. term, consisting of sand and graye 2 This is obtained by dredging in th it river nine miles below Florence. if must be placed on barges and towe
 up to the dock at Florence Durin
 low water the channel is not dee $ enough to permit of bringing up fill e ed barges.
 = But this problem, like all others, a peing conquered, and the dam builder l. expect to finish the foundation wor VI Tn the north channel by Jan. 1, 192 b SAPSSl 1 14HlSh the same W0I h in the south channel by Jan. l. 1a2 Ie They expect to close the openings uI k der the dam and create the apoo Y by Jan. !, 1925, or not later than ti
 spring of that year, This spooF' ; engineers modestly desribs it, vi = in reality, be a beautiful lake eish = cen miles long, formed by tue wal = backed up by the dam. Finally tn, t expect to install the electrical m; ' chinery and have electrical cure
 ready during the late winter of 1s 7 or the early spring of 1926.
 ! The construction plant, eofferdar
 and temporary structures were depr
 ciating at the rate of approximate ne S40O,olo a year, until ss, ,eea becar Is available at the hands of Congre n in September and on Oct. 1. All th nHe H deterioration has been stopped, ne as work has begun and the army ena @e @ neer dam builders are singing the so SSo of peace. If they were naval offics .st they would probably dascribe ther fo selves as being aeauipped with chs nd and sailing directions and proceedi M ,Ms- full speed ahead"
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