Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-01-29

hard at work striving TO complete the
elaborate flood discharge channel be-
fore the end Of the year. August saw
completion OF the largest contract by
the MasSman Construction Co. spill
way builders) who did the major part
OF excavation and placed concrete lin
! ing for nearly q mile Of the great flood
carrier. This left the contracting firm
OF Addison Miller and Fielding q
/ Shepley TO finish the gate structure
and the cutoff wall at the ends Of the
! channel concrete. Working along with
the above contractor, the McKiernan-
Terry Corp, set gate operating ma
chinery and controls as fast as the
J foundations were completed
Roosevelt Visits Fort Peck
The rush Of activities diverting the
mighty Missouri river through its new
concrete and steel-lined channel now
over, the dredging plant settled down
to q constant record breaking output
OF material from the downstream bOr-
row pit. BY Oct. 3, all hands at Fort
Peck we're ready to welcome President
Roosevelt to the project for the second
time since its inception. The chief ex-
ecutive made a thorough tour OF in
spection of the work and expressed
himself as astonished at the vast guam
tity of material placed in the 5000
foot wide river valley since the first
time he gazed upon it Oct. 4, 1884.
Much Gravel and Stone Placed
BY Sept. 2, 1887, the remaining stock
piles of glacial boulderS we're shipped
to the dam and by Oct. 10, 1887, when
the pits at Cole were shut down for
the season, the Becker-C County Shelly
Co, had turned out 100000 cubic yards
of coarse gravel. Later, Nov. 10, 1887,
when the Snake Butte quarry closed
down for the winter, it was reported
that they had furnished $3.50 carloads
Of rock for riprap.
Long Dredging Season
Taking full advantage of favorable
weather, dredging operations continued
until Dec. 8, when the last of the four
dredgeS shut off the motors and closed
the longest seasons operations during
the life Of the project, 249 days. From
May to Oct. 81, fill went into place in
the dam at an average rate of $500
cubic yards per hour, day and night
The real average was higher than this
since this rate takes no account Of
the delays incident to closure during
the busy week of June 20-26. When
the smoke cleared away, surveyors
a total Of 80, $40, 400 cubic
yards Of hydraulic fill in place in the
barrier
Employment Holds Up
Employment figures for Jan. /, 1898
we're 3,144, higher than had been ex-
pected, and by Jan. 18th there were
7oAA
70 men. Employment was provided for
arge numbers of men at the end Of
he year relaying pipelines, tearing out
restle, cutting and saving timber and
moving booster pumps.
SpiIlway Not Quite Finished
The Addison Miller firm did not
uite finish their spillway contract
vhen they shut down operations at the
utoff structure Dec. 20. Although they
lid finish the beautiful gate structure
nd maintained a splendid rate of
'rogress at the cutoff wall until the
asst day, they will have to come back
his spring to complete the work
Last Contract Let
The last contract to be let at the
reject for manufacture and install
ltion of the main control gates at the
lnnelS was awarded to the Fegles
Construction Co. on Dec. Is. Work
nder the contract is expected to start
I the near future.