Building the Greatest Dam in the World
1912 6mDocumentary, Short
With the exception of the Panama Canal, the engineering works in progress at Keokuk, Iowa, are the greatest in the world. The dam across the Mississippi is approaching completion and it has involved the building of the largest monolithic concrete structure in existence. Such an undertaking as this necessitated some great mechanical and constructional devices. The picture includes views of the work as it is being carried out. For example, we see huge concrete mixers with a capacity of 1,500 cubic yards per day, and we see rock being crushed at the rate of 500 car loads. There is a power-house, a third of a mile long. An inclined railway carries material to the concrete mixers; a very large cantilever traveling crane places the concrete in the dam. There is a view of a great new lock in course of construction. It was necessary to saw a channel in the bedrock of the American continent and the work of doing it is shown. Excavators, traveling cranes, concrete dumpers, and other great pieces of machinery are shown at work.
