Newspapers / The Badin Bulletin (Albemarle, … / Aug. 1, 1920, edition 1 / Page 11
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badin bulletin Pagi Setin turrets OfTT^CIENT city, but the dam. march ,5. ,g.7 Hydraulic Development {Continued from page 3) began to sharpen pencils and oil adding machines. -The first stage setting of the “blues” ispenser revealed to our anxious eyes f sang of worknien cutting an opening the center of the upstream cofferdam, that the Yadkin, which for nearly our years (except when on the ram- had passed every last drop of its Volume through two enormous tunnels ^uld again return to its natural course. Id we say cutting? Well, it looked l^ore like whittling. It looked so much whittling that “Captain” Rickey ^ii'ed to know how his bank balance and upon finding out hunted up S. Scott and laid down a wager, which ^fter serious consultation with his gen- foreman) Scott accepted, to the f that the job could not be done y '-he end of the week. That was on . In about an hour that hole of cofferdam was a seething mass umanity. There were so many in ^®^king so strenuously, that they ‘ even let the mud and dirt stay each other’s .shoes. They couldn’t; ^ Were too close together! ^ Saturday evening (via the over- route), the hole was open, and the adkin once more flowing down its natural course. Then came payday, and the end of the week, with a job well done tucked away; and Sunday was to be a day of rest and rejoicing. But the “Captam” decreed otherwise. At five a. m. (well, maybe it was six), he was up and on his way to see how much form work had been completed by those carpenters working in the tunnels. (Because these tunnels, which had taken so long to dig, were to be filled with concrete, so as to help hold back the water in the lake.) ‘ Well, would you believe it, not a jack hammer on the job! Two enormous tun nels full of nothing. Why? We have often thought that at least one man must have been determined to have that question answered, because he climbed back up those 350 feet of Stanly hillside which has increased many blood pressures and reduced much avoir dupois, but never had been climbed for the fun of doing it. He did not return alone, however; with him was a small sized army of carpenters, and mto those tunnels they waded, splashed, ~ most swam, and down to hard work they ^°it was on Sunday, June 6, that one of the very important, if not the most im portant, parts of the work began. Day Ld night shifts kept at the work of plugging these tunnels until, another Sunday morning, three weeks later, it was found that ninety-five pounds of air could penetrate no more cracks and crevices in the rock, and the job was pronounced satisfactorily completed. It is necessary to return at this stage of our story to the Whitney dam, and pay what little homage we owe it. Worthless as that structure is today, covered with twelve feet of water when the lake is full, it can at least be said that for the brief period of a few hours it was master of the situation, and held back the rushing waters of the Yadkin long enough to allow the final closure to be made in tranquility at the Narrows (and incidentally to lodge high and dry on the rocks a party of our good friends from Montgomery County, who were at tempting to cross the river at Penning ton ferry on their way to Badin to see the event of the day!) At four o’clock p. m. on June 27, 1917, the two large gates were lowered into place, effectually closing the last open ing in the Narrows dam, and the Yadkin River was harnessed. Simultaneously with the construction of the dam, the erection of the powerhouse and appur tenances was under way. The comple tion of this was so timed that when the water in the lake reached an elevation sufficient to enter the penstocks and turn the waterwheels, the machinery was ready to develop power. Throughout the course of events lead ing to the construction of the Narrows Dam, the impelling force back of the entire project was our president, Mr.
The Badin Bulletin (Albemarle, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 1, 1920, edition 1
11
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