THE NORTH PLATTE VALLEY 



375 



that we must look for assistance. The disinterested position and finan- 

 cial sufficiency of the government and the power it possesses to coor- 

 dinate those portions of projects lying in different states render it 

 peculiarly competent to undertake this work. 



As a result of thorough preliminary investigations, a reservoir site 

 for the storage of the waters of the North Platte was located near the 

 mouth of the Sweetwater River in central Wyoming. The site is a 

 natural basin, the enclosure having but one outlet, through which the 

 river escapes by a granite gorge extending for a quarter of a mile 

 through the hills. This canyon is approximately two hundred feet 

 deep and one hundred feet wide, and presents an ideal site for a dam 

 by which to convert the basin above into an immense storage reservoir, 

 while the surrounding hills of fine-grained granite contain the ma- 

 terials for construction. The one unfavorable feature is the location 

 of the dam site with reference to the railroads, the nearest point being 

 forty-five miles distant. The thousands of barrels of cement and the 

 contractor's heavy plant must be transported over this long stretch of 

 earth road, materially increasing the cost of construction. Yet the 

 natural fitness of the site is such that the cost of the dam and appur- 

 tenances relative to the body of water impounded is but one dollar per 

 acre-foot stored. 



The dam to be constructed at this point will be of the arch type, 

 ninety-four feet thick at the base, two hundred and ten feet high and 

 about two hundred and thirty feet long at the crest. The preliminary 



View near Bridgeport, Nebraska, showing Topical Area of Land it is 



proposed to Irrigate. 



