The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-01-22

~ NSsAAkANS~A 40 AVVO1 ANo SAAAC40 w
lieve.
"a total of 100000 already has
been appropriated toward its esti-
mated construction cost Of $1O8, 6OO,-
600. The recent report of the board
OF army engineers recommended to
the present congress that So, zoe, 900
be provided for current construction
costs.
Because of this tremendous ex-
penditure Of federal funds, the
plains country Of northeastern Mon
tana has found the Fort Peck Dam
a bonanza far exceeding the boom
days OF gold discovery. Peak periods
such as last summer when the pay
roll numbered 10,546 persons, in
volved an estimated monthly payroll
OF $1,OO0,000s Even during winter
shutdownS the payroll has not fallen
below 1000 workers. These payrolls
explain why Department of Com
merce retail business surveys showed
Valley County to have a 474 per cent
squirt in two years.
Flood Control Secondary
Lost New Deal river projects are
for irrigation or power development.
Not so at Fort Peck, where these OBJ
Jectives are only secondary. The
prime purpose of the Fort Peck Dam
is to improve navigation on the
Missouri river, with food control a
secondary objective.
For more than a century, army
engineers have wrestled with the
problem of controlling the turbulent
Missouri river to provide a safe and
adequate channel for navigation.
The great Fort Peck Dam, driven
into the hills Of Montana's desolate
badlands, Is the foundation of the
present program Of developing an 8
or 9-foot channel from the mouth
of the Missouri rear st. Louis to
Sioux City, Ia. The channel al
ready Is open to Kansas City and
work Is progressing to the Iowa
point.
! The rate Of flow in the Missouri
river varies greatly. From the great
reservoir formed by the dam, with
its shoreline of 1000 miles, water
will be available for release when
needed during the autumn months.
The dam will store water during
June crises" when melting snow
water cascades down from noun
tains into its twisting, picturesque
basin.
Not to Affect Mississippi
Army engineers emphasize the ex-
PLANTATION that the Fort Peck dam
will have little effect on Mississippi
river flood control and was not de-
signed to keep that river in check.
Power production Is possible al
Fort Peck and was given consider
alton in the designing of the huge
dam. Possibilities, however, are
still rather nebulous. Studies made
by the engineers show that $4,000
acres in the Missouri Valley below
the dam could be irrigated by low
lift pumping projects, If power were
cheap enough. This poweC might be
provided by Fort Peck.
The dam also will help contro
bank erosion, through which thou
sands of acres of fertile land are
carried away each year. The do
nestle water supply for scores OF
cities and towns will be stabilized.
Much progress already has beer
recorded on the project, although II
was necessary to spend almost q
year in preliminary work before &C.
tual construction Of the dam began
Complete Town Built
These preliminaries included
building of complete town with all
utilities, which houses as many as
70c0 people; construction Of 288-
mile power line from Great Falls
Mont; building Of more than 4C
miles of railroad; erection of bridges
and trestles surrounding the dam
and construction of large dredges
and other craft.
The dam, Of hydraulicked earth
fill, Is being built with the effort Of
four gigantic dredges which pump
earth and water from the river val
ley through long pipelines. The de-
sired solids settle out to form the
fill for the dam. BY the end of the
dredging season, 100000 cubic
yards, half of the estimated re.
quired fill, were in place.
Work will center on the dam it.
self in the next two years. Lining OF
almost five miles Of diversion tunnels
has been completed, with some work
remaining to be done on control APP
paratus and portals. A large fiooo
spillway will be completed this sum-
mer. About July /, 1887, the river
will be diverted through the foui
mile-long tunnels around the dam
Then the channel section of the
dam will be closed.