1905 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



77 



The preliminary investigations seem 

 to indicate that bed rock would be 

 found close to the surface, but the 

 diamond drillers discovered an alto- 

 gether different condition. From the 

 very first large boulders and heavy 

 gravels were encountered, and the 

 drills penetrated to a depth of 88 feet 

 before bed rock was reached. This 

 unexpected depth to foundation will 



This inclosure can then be heated so 

 that the work may be carried on dur- 

 ing the winter season. In order to 

 handle the water which will be en- 

 countered by excavating the founda- 

 tion for the dam, an unusually large 

 construction power plant will be re- 

 quired. 



Exceptionally good local conditions 

 for such power development exists 



North Platte River, looking downstream from just above dam site 

 at Pathfinder Reservoir, Wyoming. 



increase the expected time to finish 

 the storage dam by at least two years, 

 since the loose material at the bottom 

 of the canyon will all have to be exca- 

 vated in order that the masonry work 

 of the dam can be erected on bed rock 

 throughout. As the canyon is exceed- 

 ingly narrow, it will be feasible to in- 

 close the entire area to be covered by 

 the dam, and including the dam itself. 



here by using the water in the stream 

 and natural channel through the can- 

 yon, or by the use of a steam plant, 

 the fuel for which recently has been 

 found within ten miles of the work. 

 The reclamation of 150,000 acres of 

 land through the construction of this 

 work will add a population of approx- 

 imately 50,000 inhabitants to what is 

 no\v a very sparsely settled commu- 

 nity. 



