suspended that by means of a tripping device it was automatically dumped
when the proper point on the loop was reached.
_Niagara Falls Power Tunnel._--The tail-race tunnel built to carry away
the water discharged from the turbines of the Niagara Falls Power Co.,
has a horse-shoe section 19 × 21 ft. and a length of 6700 ft. It was
driven through rock from three shafts by the center-cut method of
blasting. In sinking shaft No. 0 very little water was encountered, but
at shafts Nos. 1 and 2 an inflow of 800 gallons and 600 gallons per
minute, respectively, was encountered. The principal plant was located
at shaft No. 2, and consisted of eight 100 H.P. boilers, three 18 × 30
in. Rand duplex air compressors, a Thomson-Houston electric-light plant,
and a sawmill with a capacity of 20,000 ft. B. M. per day. The shafts
were fitted with Otis automatic hoisting engines, with double cages at
shafts Nos. 1 and 2, and a single cage at shaft No. 0. The drills used
were 25 Rand drills and three Ingersoll-Sergeant drills. The pumping
plant at shaft No. 2 consisted of four No. 7 and one No. 9 Cameron
pumps, and that at shaft No. 2 consisted of two No. 7 and two No. 9
Cameron pumps and three Snow pumps. An auxiliary boiler plant consisting
of two 60 H. P. boilers was located at shaft No. 1, and another,
consisting of one 75 H. P. boiler, was located at shaft No. 0.
_Cascade Tunnel._--The Cascade tunnel was built in 1886-88 to carry the
double tracks of the Northern Pacific Ry. through the Cascade Mountains
in Washington. It is 9850 ft. long with a cross-section 16¹⁄₂ ft. wide
and 22 ft. high, and is lined with masonry. The material penetrated was
a basaltic rock, with a dip of the strata of about 5°. The rock was
excavated by a wide heading and one bench, using the center-cut system
of blasting. A strutting consisting of five-segment timber arches
carried on side posts, spaced from 2 ft. to 4 ft. apart, and having a
roof lagging of 4 × 6 in. timbers packed above with cord-wood. The
mechanical plant of the tunnel is of particular interest, because of the
fact that all the machinery and supplies had to be hauled from 82 to 87
miles by teams, over a road cut through the forests covering the
mountain slopes. This work required from Feb. 22 to July 15, 1886, to
perform. In many places the grades were so steep that the wagons had to
be hauled by block and tackle. The plant consisted of five engines, two
water-wheels, five air compressors, eight 70 H. P. steam-boilers, four
large exhaust fans, two complete electric arc-lighting plants, two fully
equipped machine-shop outfits, 36 air drills, two locomotives, 60 dump
cars, and two sawmill outfits, with the necessary accessories for these
various machines. This plant was divided about equally between the two
ends of the tunnel. The cost of the plant and of the work of getting it
into position was $125,000.
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