The Fort Peck press., 1935-10-31
All Last Winter Work was Provided
for Over 5000 Men, & They
are Hitting the Ball"

"The North wind doth blow and
we shall have snow" and what will
the Fort Peck men do now? Well,
judging by their performance last
winter, they will keep right on chit
ting the ball." All last winter,
work was provided for more than
5000 men. With the advance prep
arations which have been made to
transport men in closed buses and
trucks, to heat concrete materials
and forms, to enclose machines and
equipment, to provide change-houses
about the job where men can get
warm, 1T is expected that the work
VIII go on throughout the winter.
Digging the diversion tunnels, one
of the main items Of the project,
will be little hampered by cold
weather. A vast amount of work
Is scheduled to be done and it is of
such q nature that it can be done
during the winter. Such is the re-
suit of careful planning of a large
scale construction project.
Starting the third year of the
campaign to harness the Missouri
RIVER with the Fort Peck Dam, the
Army Engineers have reason to be
satisfied, Tor their plan of battle has
proven to be excellent. Monday,
October %, 1888, the first shovel
full OF dir was turned ON the wild
HOOD PLAIN Of the river near the site
OF the old trading post of Fort
Peck. From tnat Gate to the Sec
oAd anniversary the records show
CONTINUOUS and increasing accomplish
menL
A forest of cottonwood timber
was completely removed; 81 miles of
railroad wsre built, 3 miles of it on
trestie construction; a steel bridge
across the river was erected; q 288-
&a44e electric power line with substa-
ions at either end and a far-flung
CiotrlUtGun system at the job was
completed; a network Of roads and
atreots were put in; modern gas
water and sewerage systems were
installed; dredges, boosters, barges,
ponvoons and derricks were built; a
noIorH town complete in all essen
tial details was brought into being
and occupied; the 300-acre base of
the dam was stripped of top soil and
gumDo, a continuous steel membrane
cat-off wall of sheet piling was driv-
Ell to bedrock for a distance of 5000
feet across the valley; four large
tunnels which will divert the river
around the eastern end of the dam
and control the released water from
tn future reservoir were started and
boulders were hauled in and placed
so as to folm stable toes along the
upstream and downstream edges of
tile dam; warehouses, shops, oil de-
pots, a Tefgigerating plant, a loco
engine house, garages, a
laundry, a scientific laboratory and
three central concrete m~ixlng-plants
were built; a spilbway for flood
was started and II 1-2 mil
lion cubic yards of excavation COM
to serv as an insurance policy
for the dam; and last, but not
least, over one fifth of the great
hydraulic fill-barrier to the mighty
Missouri has taken shape; all of
this has beenaccomplished in the
brief space of two years time.
The effects of the work have
widespread throughout the
Works. in iron mines,
steel mills, rolling mills, fabricat- !
nY shops, and on the railroads have
ocen called on to furnish structural
steel, reinforcing steel, sheet p:ling, =,
,ipe, machinery and hardware. Work
,rs IN oil fields, refineries and stor- :
lge depts have been called on to
gasoline for trucks and autos,
oil and greases for shovels,
-. %r-o~tk0,-1 onl pDynr~-anoo,. o
and sawmill hands have i
lad work getting ut piling, timbers, {
umber and m liNork. Coal miners
lad first to dig the coal needed to
urn the large quantities of cement q
or the lob. The rubber and cot
inductries supplied truck tires,
,onveyor belts, hoses and insulation T