Arrowrock dam, in Idaho, is probably the most spectacular structure
to the credit of the Service. Completed on October 4, 1915, it ranks
all other dams in the world in its height, 350 feet above bedrock.
It is of rubble concrete, arch gravity type, and contains 585,130
cubic yards of material. It was built by Government forces, and not
by contract, and its completion in two years less than the estimated
time and at a saving of more than two million dollars in the estimated
cost, furnishes a striking example of Federal efficiency and economy.
In connection with this important work the engineers built and operated
a standard gauge railway 14 miles long, which carried more than 80,000
passengers, and 14,000,000 tons of freight. A unique camp, containing
4,000 people, was established, with sewerage, water works, and
electric lights. Schools for the children of employees, a hospital,
postal savings bank, churches, and Y. M. C. A., a large general store
and commissary, blacksmith and machine shops, sand-grinding and
cement-mixing plants, all under the engineer’s direction, gave to the
camp the aspect of an enterprising and busy community. It was a camp
in which, for four years, there was no night. Throughout the greater
part of this period the work proceeded without interruption, night
and day, with three eight-hour shifts. Profiting by the experience
gained on other large works of the Service, and with labor-saving
devices of their own invention, the engineers on Arrowrock worked
with extraordinary swiftness and sureness, and established a most
enviable record for economy and time. The total cost of the Arrowrock
is approximately $5,000,000, and its principal purpose is to conserve
the floods of Boise River for the irrigation of 240,000 acres of land
embraced in the Boise project.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: SUBURB OF PHOENIX, ARIZONA--RECLAIMED FROM DESERT LAND]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_The Romance of the Desert_