Some Dam – Hydro News™

4/06/2012 Some Dam – Hydro News ™ And Other Stuff i Quote of Note: “People are ridiculous only when they try or seem to be that which they are not." -- Giacomo Leopardi “Good wine is a necessity of life.” - -Thomas Jefferson Ron’s wine pick of the week: Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon "Howell Mountain" 2006 “No nation was ever drunk when wine was cheap.” - - Thomas Jefferson Dams: (A story about ALCOA is really a story about dams. Nowadays, ALCOA ships the jobs overseas and closes plants in the U.S.) 1920s: Alcoa comes to East Tennessee Aluminum Company boosts economy, quality of life By Lance Coleman, March 25, 2012, knoxnews.com Calderwood Penstock Tunnel drilled during construction of the Calderwood Dam in 1929. (Courtesy The Aluminum Company of America came to of Greg Mcclain/Special to the News Sentinel) East Tennessee to produce aluminum and in process created good paying jobs, a high quality of life and a new municipality that still bears its name. By 1920, the company employed more than 3,000 workers at two plants in Blount County and had just finished the first of six dams planned to generate power for those plants, according to David Duggan and George Williams, authors of "Images of America- Alcoa." In 1910, Alcoa had created a massive plan for building dams on the watershed of the Little Tennessee River, three of which were completed in 20 years. Cheoah Dam was built in 1919, Santeetlah Dam was completed in 1928 and Calderwood Dam was operational in 1930, according to the Alcoa, Inc. Duggan said the 1 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu company opened the smelting operation at the South Plant in 1913 and opened the fabrication operation at the West Plant in 1920. Early photos of Alcoa- See this entire gallery at full size: http://www.knoxnews.com/photos/galleries/2012/mar/25/early-photos-alcoa/43929/ With so much invested in the area, the company's next move was to build the infrastructure for a municipality. Duggan said that in 1919, Alcoa officials, working with Babcock Lumber company leaders and State Sen. Dr. J.W. McMahan — an Alcoa employee — quietly incorporated the city of Alcoa to avoid being annexed by Maryville. When McMahan introduced legislation to incorporate Alcoa, residents thought it was the encampment in the mountains where Alcoa was building dams, not the 3,500 acres adjacent to the city of Maryville. Maryville City Manager Greg McClain said his town's officials were shocked. "Maryville was taken aback that Alcoa would just go out and incorporate themselves," he said. "J.W. McMahan represented the Maryville community and had evidently not discussed that very broadly and got it done with few people knowing what was happening until it was too late." By 1920, the community featured a diverse population, including 1,708 whites, 1,482 African Americans and 150 Mexicans. For these workers, the company laid out a formal plan for the city that included homes, streets, schools, churches, parks, recreational facilities, and water and sewer utilities, Duggan and Williams wrote. "One of the significant things that shows how progressive the company was at the time was the city of Alcoa had the highest percentage of homes in the state with indoor plumbing," Duggan said The 1920s were an important time in the initial growth of the city, the development of the city school system and in the provision of services and facilities for African-American workers. "It was segregated here as it was throughout the South, but the city did give priority that there were also quality facilities and schools for African-Americans," Duggan said. Williams said it was extraordinary for a company in that era to make a major commitment to educating African-Americans. "The aluminum company took quite a bit of criticism in that period in the corporate world because it was considered a potentially negative trend," he said. Duggan said that Alcoa, Inc. set a record for prevailing wage rates for its employees. U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, in the foreword of "Images of America: Alcoa", wrote that steelworkers wages negotiated in Pittsburgh created good jobs for what would eventually become 2 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu 12,000 East Tennessee workers. "These jobs produced strong families, good schools and stable communities," he said. (This seems to be the only news about dams these days – removal, removal, removal! The media loves this stuff and seldom reports anything about the benefits of dams. And, about that bald eagle – what are the bets that he’ll go elsewhere once the dam is gone?) Second dam breaching sends debris four stories high By Chuck Williams — ledger-enquirer.com, Mar 26, 2012 As a bald eagle flew above the Chattahoochee River channel, a second large hole was blown into the historic Eagle & Phenix Dam during the traditional worship hour Sunday morning. The blast, four days after the initial breach and with substantially less hoopla, came just after 11:30 a.m. The dam is being removed to make way for a 2.5- mile whitewater rafting course in the Chattahoochee River. Columbus Police Officer Justin Goodrich watched the explosion that sent water and debris more than four stories into the air from the Eagle & Phenix condos parking deck near the dam. "That was much more visible than the first one," Goodrich said. The initial breach took out 50 feet of the stone and mason structure on the Alabama side of the river. Sunday, more than 75 feet of the dam was blown away. "It was successful," said Stephen Summers, senior project manager for Scott Bridge Co. "We were able to open up the Alabama gorge." About three times more dynamite was used Sunday. The initial blast went about only 12 feet deep into the dam. "This was much deeper," Summers said. "We went about 35 feet deep into bedrock." Law enforcement from both sides of the river cleared people from the blast zone most of the morning. A block north of the dam, the 13th Street bridge was closed to vehicle and foot traffic just after 11 a.m. About 200 people gathered downstream at Columbus State University's Woodruff Park to watch the blast from the riverbank. The crowd was much smaller crowd than the more than 1,000 people who showed up for Wednesday's ceremonial breach. As spectators gathered in a designated viewing area at Bay Avenue and 10th Street, a bald eagle tracing the river channel came from the south, sailing right by the crowd as it continued north toward the dam that bears its name. Immediately after the blast, with orange dust still suspended in the air behind it, the eagle came soaring back downstream, offering those photographing the breach an even better view of its distinct black and white plumage. Columbus businessman and W.C. Bradley Co. executive John Turner, the driving force behind the whitewater project for more than a decade, was amazed at the eagle's flight. "It was like, 'I want to get in the shot,'" Turner said. With two large chunks now missing from the dam, Scott Bridge company workers will take a few days off before beginning the task of moving the debris from the river. "We have worked seven-day weeks for the last six or seven weeks," Summers said. "We need a few days off." When the workers get back in the river, it will take about a month to get the Alabama gorge cleared. They will also begin working on the Georgia side, where the remainder of the dam will be removed with heavy equipment instead of explosives. Uptown Columbus Inc., the entity that owns the Eagle & Phenix Dam and the City Mills Dam that will also be breached, has hired security to keep people from going into the river bed between the two dams. The second breach caused a significant narrowing of the river, leaving what was once covered by water exposed. There will be archeological work done in the exposed riverbed before people are allowed to roam the banks. Turner also said boaters and kayakers should stay out of the construction area. "Boaters should not attempt to go through these breaches," Turner said. "It is not safe right now." One of the first sights exposed by the breach was a rapid forming between the 13th and 14th street bridges. (Not much of a dam – looks more like a pile of rock rubble. When dam safety threatens people, 3 Copy obtained from the National Performance of Dams Program: http://npdp.stanford.edu it’s a good time to do something – and removal may be the best option. And, it looks like a “useful” dam will get repaired. American Rivers is the self-anointed dam expert, or the media has anointed them.) Taunton dams to be removed Group wants to eliminate dams on Mill and Cotley rivers By Gerry Tuoti, Taunton Gazette, Mar 26, 2012 Taunton, MA - Touting potential benefits to river ecology and public safety, a group of state, federal and nonprofit entities aim to proceed this summer with plans to remove a series of dams on the Mill and Cotley rivers. "Many dams were built decades or centuries ago to power mills or factories that no longer exist," said Brian Graber, the northeast director of American Rivers' river restoration program. Cutting through a wooded area along Hopewell Street and behind Taunton State Hospital, the Mill River rushes over the Taunton State Hospital dam. Behind the dam, the water is held back and expands into a wide pond in the shadow of the state hospital.

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