Mammoth Dam in Australia.

Mammoth Dam in Australia.

Official details of the great dam at Beetaloo, Australia, correct some of the previously published statements and figures, and the immensity of such a piece of engineering work may well challenge a comparison with anything of the kind in that part of the world. The structure is of concrete, no feet high from the bed of the creek to the top of the dam and 580 feet long, being curved in the plan of a radius of about 1400 feet; the width of the top is fourteen feet, the profile of the section being designed in accordance with Rankine’s rules, and the width of the section at the foundation no feet; the crest of the bywash, which is 200 feet wide, is five feet below the crest of the dam, and the reservoir behind the dam at its full one and one-fourth miles long, with an average width of eight chains. The capacity under these conditions is 800,000,000 gallons for the supply of a district covering an area of 1700 square miles, including eight separate townships, etc. The quantity of concrete used was 60,000 cubic yards, the net time occupied in construction being about two and one-half years. Special machinery was used for mixing the concrete and depoiiting it in place, and the whole work is regarded as a most creditable achievement.

Official details of the great dam at Beetaloo, Australia, correct some of the previously published statements and figures, and the immensity of such a piece of engineering work may well challenge a comparison with anything of the kind in that part of the world. The structure is of concrete, no feet high from the bed of the creek to the top of the dam and 580 feet long, being curved in the plan of a radius of about 1400 feet; the width of the top is fourteen feet, the profile of the section being designed in accordance with Rankine’s rules, and the width of the section at the foundation no feet; the crest of the bywash, which is 200 feet wide, is five feet below the crest of the dam, and the reservoir behind the dam at its full one and one-fourth miles long, with an average width of eight chains. The capacity under these conditions is 800,000,000 gallons for the supply of a district covering an area of 1700 square miles, including eight separate townships, etc. The quantity of concrete used was 60,000 cubic yards, the net time occupied in construction being about two and one-half years. Special machinery was used for mixing the concrete and depoiiting it in place, and the whole work is regarded as a most creditable achievement.