BEAR RIVER VALLEY DAM 

 REDIVIVUS. 



In the Riverside Enterprise editorial columns we find this: 



"The bursting of a dam near Denver recalls the agitation that 

 was carried on here against the Bear Valley dam years ago. A flimsy 

 looking structure it certainly was and is, and the only thing that 

 could be said in its favor was that it stood. Some people suggested 

 that perhaps an earthquake might throw it down, but such natural 

 convulsions could not be forseen or provided against, for the reason 

 that an earthquake that would throw down one would, in all probabil- 

 ity, be equally destructive to the other. It will be interesting to note 

 whether when we have a recurrence of regular rainy seasons again, 

 any further effort would be made to increase the storage capacity 

 sufficiently to carry over an extra dry season. Provided the present 

 dam had been strong enough it could have been raised enough feet to 

 cover two or three dry seasons, with an economical use of water. 

 Redlands, fortunately, is developing enough water to make her prac- 

 tically independent of Bear Valley." 



Bear Valley dam is unique, in that it was built on the theory that 

 an arched monolithic structure of half the thickness and less than a 

 fourth of the cost of the ordinary type, would not only stand, but be 

 safe. Experience has demonstrated the truth of the theory, albeit it 

 was condemned by every "expert" dam engineer in the world to 

 whom the plans were submitted. 



However, our friend proceeds on the wrong theory when he says 

 that "provided the present dam had been strong enough it could have 

 been raised feet enough," etc. 



There has never been any intention of building the present dam 

 any higher, nor to build any dam at that point any higher than the 

 present structure. This is because of the configuration of the canon. 

 Accurate surveys have shown that a dam twice the height of the 

 present one 120 feet as against 60 feet can be built lower down the 

 ;anon at a cost vastly less than would be necessary to build the pres- 

 ent one to twice its height. It is difficult to explain this without a 

 diagram, but it is true. 



The new and lower dam at twice the height the present one 

 will hold four times the amount of water the present dam holds. The 

 present capacity of the reservoir is 10,000,000,000 gallons; and the 

 new reservoir would hold 40,000,000,000 gallons, a capacity exceeded 

 by only two or three artificial reservoirs in the world. 



