PROGRESS OF SHOSHONE PROJECT 



BY 



H. N. SAVAGE 



TV/ORK on the two principal struc- 

 *^ tures in connection with this 

 project has now assumed an interest- 

 ing stage. The temporary works for 

 the great Shoshone dam, which is to 

 be the highest in the world, have been 

 completed so far as possible and are 

 now handling the annual flood. A 

 tunnel, 500 feet long, has been driven 

 through the rock ledge along the dam 

 site, and a temporary dam has been 

 completed across the stream, 1,000 

 feet above the tunnel. A flume takes 

 the water from this temporary dam 

 and conducts it to the tunnel. The 

 contractors are also damming the per- 

 manent spillway tunnel. This is lo- 

 cated 240 feet above the bed of the 

 stream and has a cross section of 20 

 feet square, and will have a discharge 

 capacity of 20,000 cubic feet of water 

 per second, ample provision being 

 thus made for handling the greatest 

 flood the river can produce. 



The big plant for crushing the rock 

 and sand, (all sand for the masonry 

 work being crushed from the granite,) 

 and for mixing the concrete and also 

 for excavating and handling the ma- 

 terial from the dam site, is being 

 erected. Two L-idgerwood cables, 

 each having a span of over 1,000 feet, 

 are being assembled and will be erect- 

 ed as soon as the flood will permit. 

 Cement is being hauled from Cody 

 station, 8 miles away, and stored at 

 the dam site, every provision being 

 made to commence excavating and 

 construction work on the main struc- 

 ture at the earliest possible date when 

 the flood shall have subsided sufficient- 

 ly to permit. 



The water impounded behind the 

 Shoshone dam will be first conducted 

 10 miles down the main channel of the 



river, and then diverted by means of a 

 tunnel 3^2 miles long out upon the 

 land to be irrigated. This tunnel is 

 ten feet square in cross sections and 

 will have a capacity of 2,000 acre-feet 

 of water every 24 hours. Construc- 

 tion work is being rapidly pushed. 

 About 400 men are now at work, the 

 nature of the material encountered be- 

 ing exceptionally favorable for rapid 

 excavating. The soft sandstone can 

 easily be drilled by the use of coal-bor- 

 ing auguers. These are driven by com- 

 pressed air. Frequently a hole six feet 

 in depth is driven in six minutes. The 

 tunnel was located with special refer- 

 ence to rapid construction. Ten head- 

 ings have been opened up and work is 

 being conducted in three continuous 

 shifts. Two concrete mixing plants 

 have been erected and the tunnel is be- 

 ing lined as rapidly as it is driven. 

 While active construction work was 

 not begun until December, 1905, the 

 contractor expects to complete the 

 three miles and a half of tunnel by 

 February 1, 1907, and present prog- 

 ress indicates his ability to do so. 



Bids for the Garland canal, which is 

 an extension of the Corbett tunnel, 

 were opened several weeks ago, and 

 advertisement will be made at once 

 for the structures along this canal. 

 The engineers are now making final 

 location for the lateral distribution 

 system to cover the first 30,000 acres, 

 the line being situated in the vicinity 

 of Garland. In locating the main 

 canal an opportunity for providing do- 

 mestic water supply for the towns like- 

 ly to spring up along the line of rail- 

 road has been found. Provisions will 

 be made whereby an abundant supply 

 of domestic water can be had at a 

 nominal expense whenever the re- 

 quirements exist. 



