Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-18

flood; the ocean gnawS endlessly
at its shores and whole sections
of valuable coastline ruined; canal slowly
fills its channel; a river changes its course:
even the small stream pursuing its peaceful
way performs queer antics that men are at a
loss to explain and cannot control, and the
mere flow of water through the pipes of in
duStry present phenomena of which little is
actually known. Water, the simplest and most
universal of all clements, remains the most
battling to science.
Hydraulic engineers have worked wonders in
stemmng tides and Harvesting waters for the
use of mankind, but there are still today many
fundamental problems which remain unsclved.
factor of uncertainty still enters into the
construction of dykes leveeS and SpillwayS;
dams CALI for costly and expensive margins
of safety; piers and bulkheads wash away;
the laws of beach erosion have never been
written. and numerous other hydraulic prin-
Ciples have been found wanting.
For generations the hydraulic engineer had
been handicapped by incomplete knowledge in
the science upon which his skill is based. Blu:
he has come to realize that solution of the
vast problems which lay ahead of him depends
upon his being armed with basic rules. formulas
and measurements which he does not now
possess, that basic research is needed Ito make
mere exact the knowledge of the flow of water"
and that new facts must be sought and more
accurate coeffcientS determined.
To supply this need the United States Gov
eminent has created the National Hydraulic
Laboratory at the Bureau of Standards in
Washington. and has now under construction
an amazing new building where facilities such
have never before existed anywhere in the
world for similar study will be provided.
m this unique structure, now lifting the steel
] skeleton of its framework at the foot of a
hilk on the bureau grounds, nine powerful
toto
How OF water for experimental purposes which
will be more than twice the volume normally
supplied to the District of Columbia This
water, drawn from storage reservoir in the
building, will race through pipes troughs and
fumes III quantities varying from the volume
of . great waterfall to the trickle of faucet,
and. kept in constant circulation, it will be
returned through any one of five different
channels to its source tank.
In this building there will be numerous valves
by-passes and sluice gates meters, gauges and
pipelines for distributing and controlling the
water flow and broad deep basins for VOL
umetric tests. The visitor will long. wide
stretches of open floor space, light and well
ventilated with every provision for the moving
and placing of hydraulic machinery and the
delivery of water in various quantities and at
different preSsures. He will see wide con-
crete f1ume, 200 feet long, bearing a swift
current of water; he will witness batteries of
mammoth pumps at work, ingenious constant
level reservoirs and accurate models of dams,
hydro-electric plants and river beds of every
character and description. And he will stand
in mystifyng corridor like basement chambers
with the rush and roar of great forces of
water in his ears, watching profound expert
ments that might revoluticnize the whole
science of hydraulics
It is planned that this great laboratory be a
clearing house of hydraulic information to work
in liaison with foreign laboratories and that
fhArA Wil Ia Hob
of references of hydraulic investigation both at
home and abroad
According to Director George K. Burgess of
the Bureau of Standards, the laboratory will
be active in studying proposed designs of
hydraulic structures for such departments Of
the Government as may need this help. Such
studies will be intended to make improvements
in the configuration of particular designs in
order to obtain the best and the most econom-
ical structure for given service. From tests
or an engineering nature such these, scien-
tific information may also be obtained-for ex-
ample, an understanding Of the laws which
govern scale effects, and a more exact knowl-
edge of the nature of flow. Numerous specific
problems have been suggested by the Bureau
OF Reclamation, such as the Hoover Dam and
the Gle Elum Spillway, and some more general
in nature such q study Of the hydraulic
jump on sloping surfaces, of flow in chutes and
in transition sections, and a study Of means
for preventing erosion below spillways."
In this laboratory hydraulicians will study
Aood control problems by delving deeper into
the mysteries of the now of water and the
action of river currents, supplementing the
work now being done by the corps Of engineers
of the War Department in the Mississippi
Valley.
4 ABORATORY research and experimentation
l. extended over a long period may answer
the question of whether Strengthening the
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