344

THE RAILRGAD ANI3

: [August, 1891.

in Ceylon; the City of Toronto; Completing the Exploration
of Australia, and the Cafions of the Colorado. This magazine
contains much that is of interest not only to the student, but
also to the business man and the general reader.

A
?

THE UTILIZATION OF NIAGARA FALLS.

(Condensed from a lecttire delivered by .\lr. Coleman Sellers before the
[i‘r:tnlclin Institute, Philadelphia; published in the_/rmryml of the Institute.)

 

 

THE extent of the area supplying water to the Falls of
Niagara is so well known in a general way that it is only
necessary to say that the drainage basin includes an area
of over 240,000 square miles. The Falls are 23 miles be-
low Lake Erie and I4;,L miles above Lake Ontario. The
total difference between the water levels of the two lakes
is 326 ft., which is distributed as follows 2 Rapids between
Lewiston and thelowersuspension Bridge, IOO ft.; rapids
between the Bridge and the Falls, 10 ft.; the Falls of
Niagara, 160 ft.; rapids immediately above the Falls, 50
ft.; Upper Niagara River, 6 ft. The extreme limit of varia-
tion in the depth of the river above the Falls is 39,; ft., but
the limit is very rarely reached. Generally a variation of
1 ft. above the Falls is followed by a change of 5 ft. below.
These changes are of short duration, and are generally due
to long continued violent winds or sudden accumulations
of ice. The average discharge of water from Lake Erie
into the Niagara River is estimated at 265,000 cu. ft. per
second. The flow is for all practical purposes unlimited
and never failing.

The plan which is now being worked out by the Cataract
Construction Company was originally suggested by Mr.
Thomas Evershed, and when taken up by the Company
was referred to Mr. Coleman Sellers as Consulting En-
gineer. Under his charge, and underthat of Mr. Adams,
the President of the Company, a commission was formed
consisting of Sir William Thomson, of London ; Mr. Sel-
lers ; Colonel Turrettini, a distinguished Swiss hydraulic
engineer ; Professor C. E. Mascart, of Paris, and with
Professor W. C. Unwin, of London, as Secretary. This
Commission asked for plans for the generation of power
by turbines or other water moters, and for the transmis-
sion of power so generated. A large number of these
were received and carefully considered. The whole were
based on the work which the Company has already begun,
and which is stated as follows :

The Niagara River above the Falls flows from the east to the
west. and at the Falls the lower gorge, into which the water is
carried by the two great Falls, the American and the Horse-
shoe, runs almost due north toward the west end of Lake On-
tario. Between the line of the New ‘York Central Railroad, as
it enters the town of Niagara and the river bank is a strip of
land averaging sufficient width to permit the laying out of a
manufacturing town as an extension of the town of Niagara,
with room suflicient to permit a long canal from the river to run
parallel with the railroad, to enter the river below Grass Island
with a diverging mouth of suflicient width to, of itself at its
lower end. give water at the Central Station to the whole
amount required if need be.

Streets are being laid out above Port Dey, where the existing
hydraulic canal takes its water, for the location of mill sites,
while farther up the river a large area of land; in all about I,4oo
acres, will be reserved for dwellings of the operatives in con-
junction with other large areas not owned by the Niagara Power
Company, but being worked in harmony with it. .1

A tunnel requiring about 490 sq. ft. of rock excavation
is being driven from above Port Day on the land of the Com-
pany under the town of Niagara to a few feet below the Upper
Suspension Bridge, a total length of 6,700 ft., to be extended
up stream farther as required when the mill sites may be occu-
pied. Only the lower end of the surface canal, as designed to
feed the wheels that are to discharge into the tunnel, will be at
present built, as from this point all the business will be allowed
to grow upon the lines presently to be pointed out to you.

The tunnel will pass under the existing hydraulic canal that
feeds the mills, which at present exist in the town of Niagara
on the bank below the Falls. This canal has been in operation
for about 40 years, and begins at Port Dey, at the immediate
head of the Upper Rapids of the American Fall; Port Dey
taking its name from one who was largely interested in the en-
terprise, and who has been noted for his connection with the
manufacture of india-rubber in, the United States. The canal

passes through a reservation 100 ft. wide, but is only 35 ft.
wide, and carries the water into a forebay parallel with the
lower river, whence various factories are being fed. The whole
amount of water that this canal will deliveris already exhausted
so far as the power it is capable of yielding is concerned, with
at present an operating efliciency of about 6,000 I—l.P. This
power may be increased to double the amount by utilizing all
the available fall, but it cannot be increased beyond that with-
out deepening or widening the existing canal.

It may be noted here, that the mills that are fed by this
hydraulic canal have been conducted with profit to their owners,
on account of the steadiness of the water-power and the many
advantages offered by Niagara as a site for manufacturing
operations, as well as the great railroad facilities that have been
for a long time in existence.

The reason for adopting a tunnel for atail—race and
placing the mill sites above the Falls was that land for man-
ufacturing purposes was iiot available along the lower
river, and that public opinion is very much against plac-
ing factories on the banks of the Niagara to the detriment
of its picturesque features. A large part of the land also
belongs to the State of New York, and is used as a public
park. Moreover, water cannot be carried by canals for
use in water wheels at nearly so rapid a rate as the tail or
waste water from the wheels can be distributed through
the tunnel. In the canal the velocity cannot safely be
made much over 3 ft. per second, while in the tunnel the
water may be carried at as high a speed as 25 ft. per sec-
ond, so that the dimensions of the tunnel for the waste
water can be very much less than would be required for
the canal. ~

ln utilizing this power it has been decided that a certain
amount will be sold for local mills which will control their
own wheels and deliver water into the tunnel. Beyond
this the power will be retained entirely under control of
the Company, and the plans formed are as follows :

There will be a central station for the generation, first of
about 5,000 H.P. by compressed air. another one of 5,000 I-LP.
by electricity, with the possible extension of either one of these
to the amount of 100,000 I-l.P. added in units of 2,500 to 5,000
H.P. to either, one by one, in whichever direction proves the
most profitable and is called for by manufacturers. The Com-
pany is anxious to do this work cautiously. economically and
thoroughly and to avoid mistakes. With this intent the matter
has been placed in the hands of a Board of Engineers, of which
Coleman Sellers is now the Chairman, with Colonel Turrettini
as foreign Consulting Engineer, and Mr. John Bogart, the State
Engineer of New York, as Consultant with Mr. Sellers, Mr.
Clemens Herschel. the Hydraulic Engineer of the Company,
and Mr. Albert I-I. Porter. the grandson of the one who orig-
inally owned Niagara Falls, as the Resident Engineer of the
Company at Niagara.

Since this address was delivered, Mr. George B. Burbank,
C.E., has been made Resident Consulting Engineer at Niagara
Falls.

It is not probablethat the whole amount of 120,000 I-LP.
will be used for a long time to come. It may be stated
that the use of compressed air for the transmission of
power has been adopted on account of the success attained
with that method in Rome, in Paris, and elsewhere
abroad, and it may be mentioned that this method has
been used in several places where electrical transmission
could not be conveniently applied. It is stated by the best
authorities that 50,0001-I.P. can by this method be carried
20 miles through two pipes each 26 in. in diameter, with a
certainty that by increasing the pressure for the time
being one pipe only might carry the entire amount, while
the other one would be under repair. As to transmission
by electricity, its capacity is already well known, and there
seems to be practically no limit to the amount of power
which can be conveyed in this way.

The work of the Cataract Construction Company is now
being pushed rapidly, and Niagara is already being taken
into consideration as a location for factories. A single
firm has already leased 3,ooo H.P. to be used for pulp
mills and paper works, and the building of the factories is
to be begun at once.

The lecture gives many other interesting particulars as
to the transmission of power for long distances, and as to
the methods which have been adopted for utilizing water
powers in Switzerland and elsewhere.