|
|
449 |
NEGenWeb Project
Resource Center
On-Line Library
|
|
449 |
THE COLUMBUS PLAN OF 1911-1912. This canal formerly used for irrigation purposes was filed upon by Babcock of Columbus in 1896, and 72 miles of canal and laterals were in active use for a period of five years. Three miles of canal have been built for power purposes, a reinforced concrete penstock, frame power house, 460 H. P. wheels belted to 250 K. W. generator and one and one-half mile of pole line connected to the Genoa Plant which was operated for about one year. Contests over water rights for a period of two years prevented the building of a larger plant and very little work has been done since that time.
The canal and power house are now owned by Messrs. Bancroft and Doty, who obtained it on a lien for work performed on the canal five years ago. The present plan is to build a canal with fall of about three-fourths ft. per mile, cross section 800 square ft., which will carry 2400 cubic feet per second.
SCHUYLER PROJECT Filing for this development was made by Chas. T. Boggs of Lincoln, and approved March 23rd, 1912. Surveys were made, a small tract of land bought at the head and a small amount of scraper work done, and no work has been done since on the construction.
Canal proposed to head in the bend of the Loup, just west of Columbus in the Northwest Quarter, Section 23, Township 17, Range 1, West. Low water at this point is 1448 6-10 ft. sea level. Line of canals run east to point two miles north of Schuyler where a head of 66 ft. is claimed, although 81 feet can be had.
Tail race runs south just east of Schuyler to Platte River in Section 25, Township 17, Range 3, East.
The building of this canal would be impracticable, as it is located too low for practical purposes, reducing the head some 30 feet. It is probable that this (?) was realized when the filing was made as the parties were in litigation at that time. Estimates are made just as if it had a reservoir of sufficient size to hold up the flow for 12-hour period.
PLATTE RIVER HYDRO ELECTRIC PLANT Considerable work has been done on this project, the Ross project, and surveys have all been made. The building of the Chalco-Yutan cut-off by the Burlington has necessitated a complete change of plans which calls for a first development above the Burlington crossing and a diversion from the Elkhorn below it, and plans have been made accordingly.
FREMONT CANAL The original canal was filed on June 21, 1895, by L. D. Richards, et al., of Fremont.
Canal started on south bank of Platte river below Schuyler, thence to Linwood following steep bluffs for fourteen miles, crossing the C. & N. W. R. R., near Cedar Bluffs, thence to a reservoir located on a ravine across the river from Fremont. The head was 120 feet which would produce more power than Columbus, but according to a Union Pacific report the cost was about twice as much.
A NEW PROJECT NORTH OF AMES AND OTHER POWER SITES A study of the contour maps and surveys made east of Rogers some years ago, shows that a canal line could be taken from the Platte river on the north side of the river near Rogers and taken to the top of the bluff, north of Ames where a bead from 90 to 100 ft. could be obtained if a favorable location for a power house could be found. As no other contour maps are available on these bluffs, and no surveys made, except to a point three miles cast of Rogers, a complete report can not be made at this time.
There is also a canal line, spoken of for many years, running from near the fork of the Loup, east of St. Paul to the top of the bluff, or "leap" at Fullerton, where a 100 ft. head is available; also beginning south of Fullerton and carrying a
|
450 |
|
canal to top of bluff, directly west of Genoa with 80 ft. head. No surveys have been made on these projects,--and as they are both expensive, but might prove more feasible than contour map show. It is, therefore, true that beginning below St. Paul, at least five large power developments could be used and not interfere with each other and that approximately 100,000--24-hour H. P. could be produced from such plants.
ESTIMATES ON COST.
Real Estate
Columbus, 1920 Schuyler, 1920 Platte River Hydro Electric--Ross 1916 Estimates Owned by Wood-Bancroft and Doty
...........
Total cost of 1st development
100 acres
$10,000
Canal--525 acres
129,000
Reservoir--1000 acres
200,000
Canal and reservoir
Tail race--350 acres-
70,000
Power site--50 acres
12,500
Pole line right of way
25,000
Sub-station
12,000
Fencing
10,000
Dam and headworks
155,000
$52,850
Bridges
150,000
66,000
Canal excavation
360,000
352,800
Reservoir embankment
320,000
122,500
Slope paving
50,000
(Rock) 112,500
Pipe lines, gates, rock, etc
550,000
216,000
Tail race
150,000
17,000
Power station
200,000
210,000
Hydro-electric equipment
1,000,000
495,000
Transmission lines
550,000
250,000
Sub-stations and equipment
200,000
100,000
Cranes, telephone, etc.
25,000
25,000
Engineering-legal and contingencies
418,700
Based on Columbus estimates 292,100
$4,605,700
$3,400,000 $3,213,100
Columbus Water Power Project.
WATER
Percentage of Time110' Head Second ft H. P. 24 Hrs. H. P. 12 Hrs. At SwItch board Lincoln-Omaha H. P. Hrs. Total H. P. Hrs. 40%
3000
30,000
60.000
48,000
* 20%
2400
24,000
48,000
38,400
85,798,800
35%
2000
20,000
40,000
32,000
41,492,000
5%
1500
15,000
30,000
24,000
4,608,000
130,808,900
Overload add 20% 26,161,760
Total H. P. Hrs. 310 days in year 156,970,560
K. W. Hrs. 117,727,920
*Not figured on.Schuyler Water Power Development--81 ft. Head.
WATER
Percentage of Time110' Head Second ft H. P. 24 Hrs. H. P. 12 Hrs. At SwItch board Lincoln-Omaha H. P. Hrs. Total H. P. Hrs. 98%
3000
21,000
42,000
33,600
120,960,000
2%
2000
14,000
28,000
22,400
2,680,000
113,648,000
Overload add 20% 30,912,000
Total H. P. Hrs. 310 days in year 154,560,000
K. W. Hrs. 115,920,000
|
|
451 |
Platte River Hydro-Electric Power Development (Ross Project). 22 and 55 Ft. Heads.
WATER
Percentage of Time110' Head Second ft H. P. 24 Hrs. H. P. 12 Hrs. At SwItch board Lincoln-Omaha H. P. Hrs. Total H. P. Hrs. 98%
3000
21,000
42,000
33,600
120,960,000
2%
2000
14,000
28,000
22,400
2,680,000
113,648,000
Overload add 20% 30,912,000
Total H. P. Hrs. 310 days in year 154,560,000
K. W. Hrs. 115,920,000
Mr. Ross figures that 130,000,000 K. W. can be delivered in Omaha.
TOTAL IN TWO GREAT DEVELOPMENTS.
Columbus
117,727,920 K. W. Hrs.
Ross Project
115,920,000 K. W. Hrs.
Grand total
233,647,920 K. W. Hrs. for 310 days
WHAT POWER CAN BE SOLD FOR
Mains' estimate made 13 years ago on what power could be sold for, as compared with steam, in Omaha were as follows
For 24-Hr. Power
7/10c per K. W. Hour
For 16-Hr. Power
8/10c per K. W. Hour
For 10-Hr. Power
1c per K. W. Hour
At that time coal was selling for, from $1.80 to $2.00 per ton. The present cost of producing electricity with steam in large quantities, including cost of maintenance, depreciation and operation is from one and one-third to one and one-half cents per K. W. hour for 10-Hr. power,--a little less for 12-Hr. power.
If the entire output of one large plant was whole-saled at one cent per K. W. Hour, for 117,000,000 K. W. Hours, the gross revenue would be. $1,170,000.
At 1c per K. W. Hour in 1919
$1,170,000
Less interest at 5% on bonds
$225,000
Sinking Fund 2%
90,000
Taxes, Insurance and Repairs
135,000
Salaries, Office Expense, Etc
50,000
Total annual expense
$500,000
Surplus $ 670,000
This surplus would build a second plant in about six years.
Taking in account the amount of power which can be produced by any one plant, there is very little difference between the Columbus and the lower Platte river projects, both are good and the best on those streams as far as known. Columbus has a greater head and larger reservoir, but less water,--vice versa.
The short distance to market makes a material saving in cost of transmission lines. The estimated cost of power by steam in
1905
1919 For 16-Hr. Power, 365 days
$36.20 per H P
$80.00 to $85.00
For 12-Hr. Power, 310 days
25.10 per H. P.
45.00 to 47.00
nearly double; but this will be reduced as price of coal declines. One and one-half million dollars worth of coal are used by four large concerns in Omaha; nearly three-quarter million dollars worth in Liucoln,--a total of two and one fourth million dollars.
Docket 1023, the Central Power Company, has a right to one hundred and forty second feet of water, which is diverted from the Platte river about three miles southeast of Elm Creek and returns the water near Kearney. This plant has
|
452 |
|
been in operation for a long period of time for power, being used at one time to operate a cotton mill and has been furnishing current to the city of Kearney since about 1896. This canal is approximately twenty-four miles long and is operated throughout the entire year.Application No. 1577 was granted to the Central Power Company of Grand Island March 5, 1920, with permit to appropriate 485 cubic feet per second of time, in addition to that already appropriated under Docket 10-13. This project contemplates the enlargement of the existing power canal from its intake out of the Platte river near Elm Creek, Nebraska, to the fore-bay of the existing power station at Kearney, Nebraska. The water will be taken from the canal at Kearney just east of the now existing spillway and will flow through trash racks having a depth of nine feet below spillway crest and width of 33 feet, realizing a net velocity through the trash rack opening of about two feet per second.
Behind the trash rack will be a pair of timber gates operated by a chain block traveling on an overhead I-beam. The water after passing the trash racks, will converge into a flume of 18 feet in width, and depth of nine feet below elevation of spillway crest, with a total depth of 12 feet to provide for surges and wasting over the spillway. This flume will pass through the canal bank and have a total length of about 70 feet with water velocity of 2.78 feet per second.
This flume will discharge into a wheel pit and draft tube, consisting of a concrete lined circular shaft sunk into the indurated clay material of which the ground is here composed. A short section of flume made flexible by expansion joints will connect the solid wheel pit to the flume.
Below tail-wafer level the draft tube turns into horizontal direction through an elbow formed in the concrete shaft lining, and discharges into a tunnel, which, in turn, discharges into the tall-race on the east bank just below the spillway discharge.
The tunnel will be built in two rectangular compartments each seven feet wide by eight feet high and will be concrete lined with central division wall. The mean velocity in this tunnel will be four feet per second. The station will be equipped with one James Leffel vertical shaft open flume type of hydraulic turbine guaranteed to deliver 2350 horsepower at a head of 54 feet, running at a speed of 225 revolutions per minute. This will drive by direct connection a Westinghouse 1750 K. V. A. 60 cycle, 3 phase, 2300 volt, 225 R. P. M., electric generator with direct connected exiter. It will be controlled from the switchboard in the existing and adjacent old steam and hydro-electric station of the Company. Detailed plans of this project are on file in this department; also progress reports on file show considerable work has already been done.
GENERAL CONDITIONS ALONG THE NIOBRARA RIVER The next stream in importance in this state in the study of water power is the Niobrara river. This river is better adapted to the construction of plants than the Loup and Platte rivers owing to the character of the soil and the high bluffs which prevail along the stream. The main reason why power developments have not been made on this stream is the great distance to the market
Application 1243 was allowed to H. P. Buhman of Leigh, Nebraska, December 16, 1912, allowing him the right to divert nine hundred second feet of water from the Niobrara river at the bridge across said river south of Spencer and to return same to the river about twelve miles farther east. Our records show that very little work was ever done on this project, and the application is automatically cancelled for the reason that the law provides that one-tenth of the total work shall be completed within one year from date of allowance of application. On the 24th day of December, 1918, Application 1243-B was filed in this office by Henry P. Buhman, which was for a supplemental appropriation to Application 1243, requesting 900 cubic feet of water per second in addition to the amount allowed in Application 1243. Application 1213-B was dismissed August 7, 1919.
GENERAL CONDITIONS ALONG THE BIG BLUE RIVER The Big Blue river has well defined banks, comparatively high, and while the amount of water is not so great as some of the other streams of the state,
|
|
453 |
its flow is fairly uniform and this combination affords many small power sites throughout its course, Power on this stream is not developed by means of diversion canals, but by building dams directly across the stream and impounding the water and applying it at heads varying from ten to twenty-five feet. The cost of this style of development is less expensive and a number of plants have been developed and are now in operation along this stream. We have listed below a short history of the filings which have been made on the Blue river during the past two years.Application 1520 is a permit to appropriate water from the West Fork of the Big Blue river in the SE1/4 of Section 32, Township 9 North, Range 3, East of the 6th P. M., filed in this department on the 21st day of August, 1919, by the Blue River Power Company. This application covers the same site as that covered by Application 1153, Application 1520 being a permit to raise the height of the dam from 15 to 20 feet. The power plant is located on file north end of the dam, using no canal to conduct the water from the pond to the wheels located in the penstock. Wheel equipment consists of a 27-inch diameter Leffel type "Z" turbine, mounted on vertical shaft and connected direct to a 175 K. V. A. Electric Machinery Company alternator, running at a speed of 200 R. P. M. Current is generated at 2,400 volts three-phase and stepped up to 24,000 volts for transmission to the nearby towns for lighting and power purposes.
Application No. 1521 was allowed August 24, 1918, to the Blue River Power Company of Seward. Nebraska. This application covers the same site as that covered by Application No. 1265, being a permit to raise the height of the dam front 16 to 22 feet. This plant is located on the north end of the dam, using a canal to conduct the water from the pond to the wheels located in the penstock. The power house contains the usual equipment of switchboards, transformers, governors, etc., necessary to control a plant of this kind. Current is generated at 2400 volts stepped up to 24,000 volts for transmission to the nearby towns for lighting and power purposes.
Application No. 1538 was granted to Bozarth and Carter of Hebron on March 29, 1920, with permission to divert 216 cubic feet per second of time from the Little Blue river. This plant will be located in the NW1/4 of Section 10, Township 2, Range 2 West, of the 6th P. M. This filing is very recent, therefore, we have no other data on hand regarding the progress of the construction of this project.
Application No. 1262 is a permit issued to Geo. W. Steinmeyer, of Barnston, Nebraska, to appropriate 500 cubic feet from the Big Blue river. Power will be used for electric purposes, to furnish current to nearby towns.
Before starting construction of this plant extensive examination and surveys were made along the Big Blue river in this section of Nebraska. It appears that the drainage area at Beatrice is 3360 square miles, and at the Barnston site is 4150 square miles. An 18 foot head is provided for, which is capable of developing 838 theoretical horse-power.
The power house is to be located on the left or easterly side of the river channel and to contain two vertical direct connected hydro-electric units. The power house is flanked on the east by an earth embankment extending far enough to prevent overtopping by flood. Beyond the dam to the right are to be four radical or Tainter gates 24 feet wide by 13 feet high, and beyond these an overflow spillway section 250 feet in length reaching to the rock bluff on the western side. All construction to be of concrete reinforced as necessary, except that the Tainter gates are of structural steel.
For a 4-foot pond rise the combined area of spillway and gates will be 3120 square feet,--for a 6-foot rise, 38 square feet, and for a 9-foot rise 4850 square feet. A 9-foot rise in the pond will allow about three feet difference in head between the assumed present normal flood rise and the new level causd (sic) by the conditions of the proposed dam and plant as per Scheme No. 1, on file in this office. This difference in head will allow for discharging about 40,000 C. F. S. without further rise. The four Tainter gates will discharge in ordinary floods 8,000 to 10,000 C. F. S. total, giving a tail-water rise of 8 to 10 feet without any corresponding rise at the Barnston pond. Thus these gates permit of regula-
|
454 |
|
tion of the pond at Barnston at all times, except in a very few extraordinary floods. It is proposed to carry about two feet of flashboard on the 250-foot spillway, which, on account of the regulating capacity of the Tainter gates, will seldom have to be disturbed. The four feet of river slope allowed by Mr. Steinmeyer between the 18-foot standing head at Barnston and Black's dam is no doubt ample and can very probably be reduced, but a more complete survey and cross sections of the upper portion of the flowage is needed to exactly establish the fact.For the operation of the Tainter gates there will be two portable motor operated gate hoists running on steel I-beam tracks about 15 feet above normal headwater level. One of these hoists may be considered as an auxiliary and is recommended as insurance against any injury to the other and to save time in quickly handling the gates.
The massive concrete to be of Cyclopean masonry, using the limestone from excavation where suitable. The gate piers are to be not less than four feet thick. The runway to be of reinforced concrete on steel I-beams.
The power house is shown to stand on the left or easterly side of the channel. The power house substructure to be entirely of reinforced concrete and for the superstructure, brick or concrete block walls are recommended with a concrete roof so that a fire proof building is thus provided. The floor of the power house is to be 32 feet above normal tail-water level with :3 feet additional space, up to the window sills so that a flood rise of 35 feet is permissable without entering the power house, provided one doorway is stopped off at time of flood.
The proposed water capacity is about 4100 C. F. S. or about 100 C. F. S. more than at the Holmesville dam. This capacity in connection with the 200-acre pond will handle considerable peak loads to advantage and the total capacity is only about twice the normal flow of the river and is conservative as shown by the duration curves. Two units are proposed, one having about twice the capacity of the other, thus there may be one 450 K. W. and one 250 K. W., making 700 K. W. or about 940 H. P. total. The units to be of modern vertical direct connect type with high efficiency runners especially designed for large fluctuations in head. Exciters to be belted and the governors and pumps or the latest relay type, direct-connected to turbine gate shaft.
The switchboard is to be located in the center of the power house and downstreams (sic) from the units where it will be easily accessible.
The reinforced concrete penstocks to be closed by steel head gates of full width supported in grooves in the penstock walls and by two intermediate steel columns. These. will be two feet of flashing on top of the gates to permit of filling the penstocks, thus making it unnecessary to raise the head gates against the full hydro-static pressure, The head gates are to be raised by means of the power house hand crane. There will be steel trash racks with 3" x 3/4 bars at 2" centers supported by steel beams and rack structures. The hand operated crane to be a 10-ton triplex block suitable for handling the equipment during construction and for future repairs. The hydro-electric plant is of such capacity and design to be admirably suited to the territory it is to serve. This plant is now being constructed and will be completed within the following year.
GENERAL CONDITIONS ALONG THE REPUBLICAN RIVER Although there are several small power plants along the Republican river, it can not be considered as of much value for power development for the reason that the stream is frequently dry, and the head waters are being used for irrigation purposes. Any large development along this stream would necessitate the flooding of large areas of land or the use of canals in order to gain head as the banks are very low and similar to those of the Platte and Loup rivers. The more important developments along this stream which have been completed and are now in operation are those of the Southern Nebraska Power Company, Docket 1020. Under this right 400 second feet of water are used and a short canal diverts the water just south of the town. This original right was to operate a flour mill, later a hydroelectric power plant was installed to develop power and
 |
 |
 |
 |