Evening star., 1924-01-18
m TODAY's SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS

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The. Great Falls development for
water power IL outlined in . volumi-
nous and highly technical report to Con-
gress BY MAJ. NJ. c. Tyler, Engineer
Corps u. s. A. There have been many
projects. but today there b only one
that has the sanction Of Army engineers
and of the ADVOCATES in Congress- 1t
consists Of two dams and three great
reservoirs. Ono Of the dams would be
located near Chain brdge-near the Dis
trict and Virginia boundary line where a
powerhouse would be located at this
dam. The other dam would be just
above the falls. with another power
house. The scenic beauty OF the falls
will not be affected by the development.
The. Chain bridge dam would Be lis
feet high, and would create q back
water reservoir milo wide and ex-
falls.
+ Above Great Falls would be another
dam. with a crest 1876 feet above tide
water level, which would create a res
ervoir about mile in width, extending
up the river to Brunswick, near Har-
pers Ferry, distance Of some ten
These two dams are ali that are
needed to create maximum power
during most of.the year. In order
to provide a uniform flow Of water
the year round, It Is proposed to
build storage reservoirs by construct
ing a. dam at Brooks gap 213 feet
above. the river bed and S6s feet long.
with a reservoir capacity of 409, 500
acre feet at an elevation Of 1850 feet
above the base Of Chain bridge dam
ttdewater. Another reservoir dam
would be built at Romney, w. Va, on
the south branch Of the Potomac. with
bed. and a length Of 1850 feet, form
ing a pool at $50 above sea level,
containing 464.700 acre feet On the
Great Cacapon river, a branch of. the
Potomac, would be another reservoir
with q dam 226 feet high and 772 feet
water and a capacity OF 4s3.45o acre.
feet OF water. These three great res
eryofrse would cost $12,205, 900 and
would contain total OF 1,270,00O
acre-feet. tAn acre-foot Is one foot
In depth and one acre in area.
1t is recommended that the invest
ment In the reservoirs is cheaper and
better than a steam plant. With the
reservoirs no steam auxiliary plant
would be needed and no coal would
ever be required.
II only the power plant at Chain
bridge should be Installed, the cost of
electricity would be no lower TO the
consumer than 1t is now. with coal
at 81 ton on the siding, as II is now,
the full hydroelectrfc plant would be
able to supply current to consumers
at about one-half the present rate.
Why not permit private enterprise
to develop the hydroeIectric POWER
plant. instead of the government do
ing it? Because. according to the
proponents. the Potomac Electric
Power Company has shut out all pos-
sibility OF such competition by organ
izing a Great Falls Electric Power
Company and acquiring all the ripa-
rian rights to the falls and rapids.
The government, which has the right
Of eminent domain to condemn and
take the property.
If the government does develop the
power, 1t is the plan to deliver that
power to the Potomac Electric Power
Company or some other distributine
agency, to distribute IL to consume rs
over lines already existing. The law
would make 1t compulsory that ali
public utilities get their current from
the government plant.
+ Copyright. 1924. by Paul " Collins.)