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April, 1913 The Mississippi River Power Co.'s new dam is largely the result of the personal effort of Hugh L. Cooper, an eminent hydraulic engineer, but be- fore him the matter had been agitated in public and private channels for two generations. The first real surveys were made in 1848 by Robert E. Lee, subsequently commander of the armies of the confederacy, but at that time a young engineer officer in the service of the United States: He reported that the scheme would not be practi- cable until the surrounding country was settled up and until engineering science had surmounted the obstacles that then stood in the way of effici- ently utilizing the power. But the people could not appreciate the sound- hess of Lieut. Lee's advice: and .60 years was wasted in fruitless attempts to accomplish what has now been realized. All kinds of schemes were projected with all kinds of people be- hind them. There was Joseph Smith, prophet of Mormonism, murdered be- fore he had time to move far, and there was. strong, erratic Zebulon Parker, inventive genius, who lost his fortune in his efforts to construct a wing dam that would resist the rav- ages of flood and ice. Parker was followed by a man named Gates, whose efforts met equal disaster. The final effort was made by the citizens of Hamilton, Ill, and Keokuk, Ia.,, when they organized a little water power company in 1899 and raised $2,500 by the sale of stock. The power company formed, they asked the coun- THE MARINE REVIEW cils of their respective towns to sub- scribe $7,500 additional and with this $10,000 in hand they secured a fran- chise to build a dam all the way across the river. This corporation is known as the Keokuk & Hamilton Water Power Co. The Appearance of Mr. Cooper About 10 years elapsed and Mr. Cooper appeared on _ the _ scene. Through his efforts and with the co- operation of the Stone & Webster syndicate, the capital necessary for the present operations of the Missis- sippi River Power Co. was obtained. It was subscribed for in comparative- ly small lots, 35 per cent in the Unit- ed States and 65 per cent in foreign countries--Canada, England, France, Germany and Belgium chiefly. The work is being executed on the authori- ty of the original franchise obtained by the Keokuk & Hamilton Water Power Co., which has been taken over by the Mississippi River Power Co. The money advanced by the cities of Keokuk and Hamilton has been returned to their respective mu- nicipal treasuries. New Lift Lock Before the war department would gfant permission for the construction of the dam, it had to be assured that the interests of navigation would be amply protected. Accordingly the power company agreed to construct a new high lift lock to take the place of the three old locks and canal iz which will be flooded by the back water from the dam. The new lock is of concrete construction, 110 ft. wide, with a clear length of 400 ft., and a liit of 40 ft The width, = will -be noted, is the same as that of the locks in the Panama canal. Ad- jacent to the lock a 115 =x 463-1. Gry dock, together with a repair plant, is being constructed... The lock, da dock and appurtenances are being built by the Mississippi River Power Co. at its own expense, and will be deeded over to the United States upon completion. The entire development at Keokuk, the general features of which are il- lustrated' in' Pig; 1,. and: also none plan, Fig. 3, comprises the following A spillway, three important features: es ee a FIG. 4--IHE DAM UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SHOWING THE TEMPORARY COFFER DAM' bridge type dam extending 4,694 ft. from the east (Illinois) side of the river; a power house, 1,718 ft. long parallel with the river and extending down-stream from the end of the dam on the Iowa side; and a short dam with navigation lock connecting the lower end of the power house with the Iowa shore. The short dam forms the forebay for the power house and also includes a dry dock adjacent to the lock. The main dam consists of a series of 119 arched spans with piers, 6 ft. thick, and spans of 30. ft., inside. The spillway sections are, therefore, each 30 ft. long and 32 ft. high. The struc- ture is 29 ft. wide on top, sufficient for a double-track standard gage rail- way, and 43 ft. at the bottom. The