Niagara Falls 100.000-Hp. Development

Niagara Falls 100,000-Hp. Development Although Built Under the Stress of War-time Conditions, the Niagara Falls Power Com- pany’s New 100,000-Hp. Extension Embodies the Latest Word in Hydraulic and Electrical Development — Reliability of Operation and Maximum Efficiency Given Chief Consideration By JOHN L. HARPER Vice-president and Chief Engineer Niagara Falls Power Company WHEN the war came and shells and guns and ships and motor trucks and phos- phorus and gas were found vital to the existence of the nation and its allies, our government functioned through representatives whose minds appreciated values at Niagara other than in thundering vibrations and clouds of spray, wonderful as both may be in times of peace. There was- no hesitation on the part of the directors of the war in first restricting Niagara power to the manufacture of basic materials and then demanding further develop- ment of power so that the production of these materials might be increased. All parties interested in power development at Niagara Falls were asked to submit plans and propositions for a “rush” development of the remaining water available for diversion under the treaty with Great Britain. From these competitive plans one of those presented by the Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls was approved by the War Department as that which would produce the largest amount of power in the shortest time and at the same time be a proper and efficient power development after the stress of war had passed. The plan approved by the War Department required the use of all the water to which the various operating companies at Niagara Falls had proprietary rights. To unify these rights it was obviously the easiest way to consolidate all the power companies, and upon sugges- tion of the War Department such consolidation was undertaken. The Niagara Falls Power Company, Hydraulic Power Company of Niagara Falls and Cliff Electrical Distributing Company were consolidated under the name of the Niagara Falls Power Company, the control and management of the consolidated com- pany resting in the former owners of the Hydraulic Power Company. Scope of Development In the early part of May, 1918, authority was received from the Secretary of War with orders to proceed with the development in accordance with the approved plan under the supervision of an officer of the Corps of Engineers. The scope of the work carried out under this plan included the deepening of the intake from the Niagara River, the development and installation of improved ice-deflecting booms, the deepening of the Hydraulic Canal through the city of Niagara Falls, the construction of a new forebay, and three slope tunnels for taking the water from the forebay to the edge of the river in the middle basin, where the power plant was constructed as an extension to Station No. 3, the former Hydraulic company’s plant, now known as the Hydraulic plant. Three hydro-electric units were designed, to be equal in size and to have a combined output at the highest efficiency of 100,000 hp. In view of the peculiar con- ditions that existed on account of the war, and in order to secure quick delivery, the contracts for the manufacture of the waterwheels and generators were distributed as follows: One complete hydro-electric