Hartford Courant, October 14, 1919
STEVENSON DAM
BIG ENGINEERING FEAT
Connecticut Editorial Association
Will Inspect It Saturday
The members of Connecticut Editorial Association, and many other newspaper executives and editors of the state are planning for an interesting day’s outing on Saturday, when they will go to Stevenson for an inspection of the dam and reservoir of the Connecticut Light and Power Company. The Editorial Association will hold its annual meeting in Derby following the trip to the dam.
While at the dam, the newspapermen will have luncheon at which Governor Holcomb will be present. The governor will be a member of the party throughout the trip.
The mammoth dam and power plant at Stevenson, between Monroe and Oxford, about seven miles above Derby, is the largest engineering feat ever attempted in the state, and is now in the process of completion. It will be the largest dam of its kind in New England.
The dam itself is 125 feet high, and from one bank of the Housatonic to the other, it measures nearly a quarter of a mile. 155,000 cubic yards of concrete have already been used in the dam, which is 81 feet in width at the base. Across the crest of the dam, 20 feet above the structure, a concrete highway bridge is being completed, 23 feet wide, which will connect the roadways on either side of the river.
Work is not yet completed at Stevenson, so it will be possible for the newspapermen to witness the dam in construction. Locomotives hauling cars about the plant, concrete mixers, steam shovels, derricks, pumps, carpenter shop, machine shop, laboratory, the workmen’s living and dining quarters, engineers’ quarters, hospital and other buildings will prove interesting to the visitors. The power plant, with its big 10,000 H.P. generators will also be a spot of considerable interest.
In the tour of the reservoir behind the dam, the newspapermen will visit part of the drainage area. When the reservoir is filled, the water will be backed up for over ten miles and will contain one and one-half billion cubic feet of water.
The Stevenson development should prove a big economic factor in the state’s industrial life, for by the use of this water power, thousands of tons of coal will be released monthly to other industries of the state.
The newspapermen will meet at the Hotel Clark in Derby on Saturday at 11:00 and at 12 they will start in automobiles for the dam. Luncheon will be served, after which a tour of the dam, power house and reservoir will be made, the party returning to Derby at 4 o’clock. Practically all the prominent newspapermen of the state have indicated they will be present as guests of the officials of the Connecticut Light and Power Company.