Harper's Round Table, December 1, 1896

by Various

SECTIONAL DIAGRAM OF POWER-HOUSE.

Now a stream of water seven feet in diameter, falling from a height of 140 feet, must cause this mammoth water-top to spin round in its case at rather a lively rate, and so it does, for the turbine shaft revolves at the rate of 250 times a minute, and the speed can be increased to twice that number of times. The vertical shaft of the turbine is attached to a propeller shaft which rises to the floor of the power-house—built over the wheel-pits—where it is attached to a dynamo. Though the dynamos are the largest in the world, they are not the size originally designed, owing to the fact that no cars were large or stout enough to transport them, so the size of the base-plate of the dynamo was limited to one which could be carried by rail from the manufactory to the Falls.

Standing in the visitors' gallery of the power-house and watching these great dynamos whirling round so swiftly that the eye can scarcely perceive their motion, and remembering that it is caused by the expenditure of but a fraction of the power flowing over the Falls, one can form some idea of the great force which it has so long been the dream of engineers to turn to account.

Almost as great a feat as the digging of the wheel-pits and placing the turbines at the bottom, was the excavating of the tunnel to carry off the waste water. This tunnel, which is 7000 feet long, starts near the bottom of the wheel-pits, runs under the city, and empties into the river just below the suspension-bridge. It is horseshoe shaped, is 21 feet high, and 19 feet wide, in the curve. It is lined with brick, overlaid with rubble above, and the outlet is lined for 200 feet back with heavy cast-iron plates. The water does not run directly into the tunnel from the wheel-pits, but flows into it through a lateral tunnel or tail-race. This tail-race enters the main tunnel at an angle of sixty degrees. Both tunnels are horseshoe shaped, and where they unite they each curve differently, and it required a skilful mathematician to calculate the cutting and fitting of the stone for the bisecting of the arches.

It is interesting to see how this powerful machinery is kept in working order. From a circular opening in the floor of the power-house a winding staircase descends to the elevator landing. From this landing one may pass directly under the electric generators and see the various pipes which convey oil and water to the different parts of the machinery. One pipe carries oil to the upper, and a second pipe oil to the lower, bearings of the dynamos. A third pipe allows water to pass to the cooling chamber of the upper bearings, and a fourth, water to a similar chamber in the lower bearings.

The tank which holds the oil supply is placed near the roof of the power-house. After the oil has passed to the bearings of the dynamos and shafts it is conducted into a filtering cylinder; the clean oil runs into a tank below the cylinder, from which a pump forces it back into the supply tank. The pumps are run by the waste water in the bottom of the wheel-pits.

The main-shaft bearings are oiled in a novel manner. An immense iron cup, large enough to serve as a drinking-cup for the greatest of Gulliver's Brobdingnagians, is attached to the revolving shaft below the bearings. A pipe dips into the oil with which the cup is filled, and the centrifugal force of the revolving shaft is so great that it forces the oil up through the pipe to the top of the bearings, which it thoroughly oils, and the waste oil finds its way back into the cup. All that is necessary to supply the cup with fresh oil is to open a valve at the bottom, the dirty oil runs into the filtering cylinder, and the cup is filled with fresh oil from the supply tank.

An elevator descends to the bottom of the wheel-pits, where there are four galleries which enable the engineers to pass round the turbines and examine the workings. On the upper elevator landing one may see the gearings which connect the governor with the dynamos and with the turbine shaft, and the perfectly balanced levers which open and close the water-gates.

One of the interesting features of the power-house is a travelling-crane, which commands every portion of the floor of the building, and is capable of handling the largest piece of machinery in the works. If anything goes wrong with any part of the machinery, it can be removed with the greatest expedition, and a similar piece fitted in its place by means of this useful crane.

In July a company was incorporated under the name of the Cataract Power and Conduit Company for the purpose of furnishing electric power to the city of Buffalo from the Niagara Falls plant. Niagara Falls at once became the centre of interest for manufacturers, engineers, electricians, and scientists, and two days after the company was incorporated the electric plant was visited by a large party of distinguished men from different parts of the country.