Boulder Dam Research Articles

Analytical studies of the dynamics of pocket beach

The beach site is located in the utmost northeastern part of the Nevskaya Bay. A boulder dam is built on the western side, which, however, fails to protect the beach from the effects of waves that cause longshore sediment transport. The planned construction of transverse beach–retaining structures outlines in the “Water Sports Base in Primorsky District” initiative, mightchange the current situation. This study objective is to predict the evolution of the coastal contour resulting from the planned construction in the next few decades. A natural analogue of such an artificial structure could be a pocket beach located between two natural promontories. The sediment equilibrium at this study location includes three main components: volumes of erosion, accumulation and bypassing. The results include the computed wave patterns and the movement of sediment along the shoreline. The lateral sediment transport diminishes notably over time, driven by the alteration of the shoreline contour and the reduction in the angle between the wave equilibrium and the coastal resultant. The erosion and accumulation volumes increase over time, but their rates slow down. The shoreline displacement becomes more prominent over time; however, the rates of erosion differ from accumulation. The shoreline is moving particularly fast in the first years after construction, and then the process slows down gradually. The introduction of artificial beach protection structures in the 300th Anniversary Park of St. Petersburg will considerably reduce both the pace of beach erosion and the affected area. However, the erosion process will not be completely halted.

“As Though There Was No Boundary”: the Shipshaw Project and Continental Integration

Here, the foundation of Freedom you've laid; Your weapons--the mattock, the axe and the spade, The crusher, the mixer, the bucket, the drill, A sledge or a hammer, swung with a will! You--men of Shipshaw--ten thousand and more, You're working, you're building, you're winning the war! Ten thousand warriors, loyal and fine Carrying on behind the battle line! --From Men of Shipshaw, by W. Gordon Ritchie, The Aluminum Ingot, October 30, 1942 The Shipshaw hydroelectric project on Quebec's Saguenay River has long been celebrated as among Canada's greatest contributions to the Second World War; and justifiably so. The mammoth power plant, named for a nearby Saguenay tributary, was rapidly constructed between 1941 and 1943. It rivaled the Boulder Dam on the Colorado River, the largest in its capacity to generate electrical power. Together with the Chute-a-Caron (1931) and Isle Maligne (1926) generating plants upstream, Shipshaw turned the Saguenay valley into the foremost electric power-producing region in the world. As a consequence, Shipshaw also became the preeminent center for the production of the energy-intensive metal the vital component of modern aircraft. At war's peak, Canada's aluminum company Alcan (the Aluminum Company of Canada, Limited) was producing upwards of 30 percent of the entire Allied aluminum supply (the vast majority of this ingot flowing out of the Saguenay valley itself). No wonder that contemporary news reporters, politicians, and industrialists employed superlatives to describe the big hydro project. Shipshaw is one of the world's wonders and achievement which ranks high among the greatest engineering accomplishments of the wrote journalists. It constitutes Canada's greatest contribution to the war effort, echoed a Canadian official in the Department of Munitions and Supply. With its accompanying aluminum-production facilities at nearby Arvida, a company publicist asserted, the big dam led Canada into the spotlight as an arsenal of democracy. Bombers made of Canadian aluminum, Maclean's Blair Fraser reported proudly in 1944, fly on every front in the world, under every Allied flag. (1) This article explores the U.S. roots of this Canadian industrial project. Why, really, did Shipshaw come about? What forces and events propelled the creation of this huge, and hugely important, dam? While other aspects of the Shipshaw project have drawn the attention of researchers--including its engineering achievement, its labor force, its impact on the regional economy of the Saguenay and of Quebec, and, most recently, its wartime defense (2)--the project's North American origins have yet to be systematically explained and explored. (3) Shipshaw was thoroughly embedded in its continental context. Alcan, the project's builder, initially expressed little interest in expanding its industrial facilities to include the gigantic power plant on the lower Saguenay River. The motive force came instead from the Canadian government, specifically from Canada's wartime Power Controller Herbert Symington, who was a close and trusted associate of the powerful Minister of Munitions and Supply, C.D. Howe. Symington, in turn, was responding to U.S. demand for an expanded electrical power pool to serve defense preparations in the eastern United States, even before the U.S. formally entered the war. In this way, burgeoning U.S. demand for energy in 1940, and Canadians' willingness to do something about it, formed the original prod to Shipshaw's construction. Other motives soon followed. American demand for Canadian aluminum ingot promised to absorb the Saguenay's much-enlarged smelting capacity and further encouraged Alcan's executives to go forward with Shipshaw. U.S. purchases of Canadian ingot coincided with Canada's acute need for U.S. dollars to redress a trade imbalance; thus the Canadian government further sweetened Alcan's incentive to build the big dam by offering wartime tax breaks. …

Ground-photogrammetry in Australia

Abstract For the first time in Australia the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Authority has applied ground-photogrammetry to the production of precise large-scale plans of dam sites and areas for power stations. Ground-photogrammetry has already done valuable work for many big hydroelectric schemes all over the world. This method was applied at the well known Boulder Dam project in U.S.A. It is practically the only method used for large-scale mapping in construction work in mountainous areas in Central Europe (Switzerland, Austria and Southern Germany). The German-Austrian Alpine Club has built up its great map-series of 1 : 25000 and 1 : 50000 solely in this way. Since the end of 1951 the Survey Section of the Snowy Mountains Authority has surveyed very important areas by a phototheodolite supplied by Wild, Switzerland. The whole equipment consists of, phototheodolite, camera, 24 aluminium plateholders in two boxes, throe tripods with telescopic legs, three separate baseplates, three targets and one foldin...

Influence of reservoir‐loading on earthquake‐activity in the Boulder dam area

Since the reservoir behind Boulder Dam started to fill in 1935, several hundred small earthquakes have been felt in the adjacent area and several thousand have been recorded since the first seismograph was installed at Boulder City early in 1938. Epicenters of several hundred of the latter have been located, in large part along known or suspected faults on the southern margins of the large lower basin in the reservoir. It is believed that the crustal block upon which this section of the reservoir rests has been tilted downward several inches along these faults and that the granitic massif south of the faults has not partaken in the downward movement. It is known that settlement of areas of sedimentary and volcanic rocks near the lake is somewhat greater than similar areas of granitic rock. It is believed that this settlement is the cause of large numbers of the local shocks partly because the peak occurrence‐distribution is usually associated with peak seasonal loads in the reservoir.

The edison line from boulder dam

To transmit its allotment of power from Boulder Dam to its system, the Southern California Edison Company, Ltd., has completed and recently placed in operation a 233-mile, single-circuit, 220-kv line of simple and time-tested design, the principal features of which are here outlined.

Symposium on operation of boulder dam transmission line — General operation of transmission line

Symposium on operation of boulder dam transmission line — General operation of transmission line

Symposium on operation of the boulder dam transmission line-carrier-current equipment

CARRIER-CURRENT equipment is being employed for three distinct services on the Boulder Dam transmission line: first, for pilot channels for automatic protective line relays; second, for a transmission channel for supervisory control equipment which provides control from Boulder power plant of the two switching stations between Boulder and Los Angeles; and third, for telephone communication between Los Angeles, Boulder, and the two intermediate stations, and to transmit orders to line patrolmen who may be working at any point along the line. These three functions may be performed simultaneously without interference with each other, and are not affected by power conditions or normal switching conditions on the line.

Symposium on operation of the boulder dam transmission line-corona experience on transmission line

THE original basis for the selection of 1.4 inches as the diameter of the conductor for the Boulder Dam transmission line was provided principally by test data taken at the Ryan High Voltage Laboratory, at Stanford University, by the Department of Water and Power in co-operation with Doctor Joseph S. Carroll, on conductors ranging from 1.125 inches to 2 inches in diameter.1 Also reference was made to other previous corona work at the same place.2,3,4 An analysis and use of the data,5,6 taking into account temperature and altitude effect and making some allowance for unknown factors affecting corona laws that had appeared in many of the tests, led to the final recommendation of 1.4 inches as the diameter for the conductor for 287.5 kv.

Symposium on operation of the boulder dam transmission line-transmission line relay protection

WHEN the study of these lines for the application of protective relays was started the predetermination of fault currents made it necessary to calculate all of the phase-sequence constants of the lines since none of these constants for conductors of this size and spacing was available.

Symposium on operation of the boulder dam transmission line-general operation of transmission line

The successful operating experience had during the first 1½ years with the Boulder Dam-Los Angeles transmission lines of the Department of Water and Power is reviewed in a symposium of five papers. Two unusually severe winter seasons and two lightning seasons, one of which was largely during the construction period, have served to test the line, so that an accurate judgment of its future performance can be made. An historical summary of the use of the line during permanent installation and adjustment of auxiliary equipment and through the period of normal operation to the present time is presented. The manner in which the electrical and mechanical performance has proved the design in developed and the unforeseen problems requiring solution are described. In addition to this general discussion, the excellent performance of the conductor from the standpoint of corona, the outstanding freedom from lightning flashover, are shown in two separate papers. Two additional papers describe the carrier-current supervisory and communication systems and the relay protection system as well as fully discussing the experience had in placing this equipment in adjustment and having successful operation.

Symposium on operative of the boulder dam transmission line-insulation and lightning protection

This paper covers a résumé of the fundamental principles of insulation and lightning design for the Boulder Dam transmission line, including the fog problems encountered in the coastal regions and the lightning problems of the desert section. The operation in both areas is covered, with particular reference to the lightning encountered during two years of construction and one year of operation. A description of the lightning recording equipment with current values and frequency of strokes is reported. From these values the adequacy of the design is definitely indicated.

Geology of the Boulder Reservoir floor, Arizona-Nevada

INTRODUCTION The site of Boulder Dam is in Black Canyon of the Colorado River, approximately 75 miles below the mouth of the Grand Canyon (Fig. 1). At the dam, the river, when at low-water stage, is slightly less than 650 feet above sea level. As the top of the dam is 580 feet higher, the water in the reservoir can rise almost to the 1230-foot contour. The resulting lake will be 115 miles in extreme length, and will have several long, narrow arms in valleys tributary to the Colorado. The width will vary from a few hundred feet in the narrow canyons to a maximum of eight miles in the low country near the mouth of the Virgin River. As a result of field studies in neighboring areas, the writer realized that this lake would cover geologic features of great interest. Only hasty reconnaissance surveys had been made of most . . .

GRAND COULEE DISPLACING BOULDER DAM AS “FIRST” IN CONSTRUCTION

School Science and MathematicsVolume 35, Issue 7 p. 780-780 GRAND COULEE DISPLACING BOULDER DAM AS “FIRST” IN CONSTRUCTION First published: October 1935 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1949-8594.1935.tb10957.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume35, Issue7October 1935Pages 780-780 RelatedInformation

Circuit breakers for boulder dam line

Circuit breakers for boulder dam line

Engineering Features of Boulder Dam and Power Plant

The combination flood control, water conservation, and power development now being constructed on the Colorado River by the federal government represents one of the outstanding engineering achievements of recent years. The dam, which is 726 feet high and 1,180 feet long at the crest, and which contains 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete, will create a reservoir having a capacity of 30,500,000 acre-feet, a length of 115 miles, and a maximum width about 8 miles. The power plant is designed for an ultimate installation of 15 82,500 kva units and 2 40,000 kva units, making a total ultimate capacity of 1,317,500 kva; 4,330,000,000 kilowatt-hours of firm energy and an average of 1,500,000,000 kilowatt-hours of secondary energy per year will be made available. The principal engineering features of the dam and power plant and appurtenant structures and equipment are described in this paper.

Engineering features of Boulder Dam and power plant

The combination flood control, water conservation, and power development now being constructed on the Colorado River by the federal government represents one of the outstanding engineering achievements of recent years. The dam, which is 726 feet high and 1,180 feet long at the crest, and which contains 3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete, will create a reservoir having a capacity of 30,500,000 acre-feet, a length of 115 miles, and a maximum width of about 8 miles. The power plant is designed for an ultimate installation of 15 82,500 kva units and 2 40,000 kva units, making a total ultimate capacity of 1,317,500 kva; 4,330,000,000 kilowatt-hours of firm energy and an average of 1,500,000,000 kilowatt-hours of secondary energy per year will be made available. The principal engineering features of the dam and power plant and appurtenant structures and equipment are described in this paper.

Water Supply for Construction Camps

The Colorado River Aqueduct project is now so well known to every one, in outline at least, that a general desciiption hardly needs repetition here. A summary of its current status, however, may be of interest before proceeding in more detail with the camp water supply system. Although a separate Federal project, the Boulder dam is fundamentally necessary for aqueduct operation, as a source of pumping power as well as a regulated water supply. Its rapid progress toward completion, nearly two years ahead of schedule, is therefore of quite as great importance to the District as that of any aqueduct structure. Assuming average reservoir inflow, it is now officially stated that power can, if needed, be made available for the aqueduct by April 15, 1937, giving at least a year's margin of safety in this vital matter. Down the Colorado River 150 miles below the Boulder dam, at the Parker diversion dam site, actual construction is now under way. The contract for this unit of the aqueduct was awarded to the Six Companies, builders of Boulder dam, on Sept. 4, 1934, as a result of obtaining an allocation of $2,000,000 from the Public Works Administration including a grant of $500,000. It now appears probable that interstate litigation, which long threatened to delay the construction of this dam, has been successfully avoided.

What the Boulder Dam Project Means to California and to the Nation

OUT of many years of investigation by responsible Federal agencies and as a result of probably the most exhaustive course of hearings before Congressional Committees ever accorded any work of internal improvement, the so-called Boulder Dam Project for a development of the lower Colorado River has taken definite form. It contemplates the construction by the Federal Government of a great dam on the Colorado where that river forms the boundary line between the states of Arizona and Nevada and where there is not only a remarkably fine site for a dam but where there is also an exceptionally advantageous reservoir site. Under the plans for this development the dam will be 550 feet in height and will create a reservoir with a capacity of 26,000,000 acre feet. estimated cost of the dam is $41,000,000, which means a cost per acre foot of storage capacity of but $1.58. project also embraces the construction of what is termed The All-American Canal, being a canal running from the river to the Imperial Valley in California and located entirely to the north of the international boundary line between Mexico and the United States. estimated cost of this canal is $31,000,000. As this estimate was based upon price levels existing nearly ten years ago and was made before the advent of improved methods of excavating on a large scale, it may safely be said that the cost of this portion of the project will be substantially less than the estimated figure.