Pacific service magazine . Further difficulties,however, developed, as itwas found that the addi-tional weight of materialput onto the peat soil bythe dredger only aggra-vated the settling tend-ency, so that the materialdisappeared about as rap-idly as it was put up. Astime went on, however,improvements were madein the clam-shell dredger until, about 1892,the improved clam-shell was developed in-to its present state of efficiency, the onlymaterial difference being that whereas inthose days the clam-shells were built with75- to 100-foot booms, carrying 2-yardbuckets; many are now built with 225
Pacific service magazine . Further difficulties,however, developed, as itwas found that the addi-tional weight of materialput onto the peat soil bythe dredger only aggra-vated the settling tend-ency, so that the materialdisappeared about as rap-idly as it was put up. Astime went on, however,improvements were madein the clam-shell dredger until, about 1892,the improved clam-shell was developed in-to its present state of efficiency, the onlymaterial difference being that whereas inthose days the clam-shells were built with75- to 100-foot booms, carrying 2-yardbuckets; many are now built with 225-footbooms, carrying 6-yard buckets. With theadvent of the improved clam-shell (and in-cidentally, with the growth of the State, agreater demand for good land) a great im-petus was given to reclamation in the Deltaterritory, and since that time it has pro-gressed so rapidly that practically all of theavailable land in that extensive region is nowwell reclaimed and under cultivation. In these early days, the only power that. River plant of Byron Bethany Irrigation District. Electricmotors, one 500 and one 300 horsepower, raise water in thefirst of a series of lifts to supply approximately 9000 acres ofland. Pacific Service supplies the power, and its substationand transmission line are seen in the background Pumping plant No. 3, was available for pumping purposes wassteam, and it was not until about 1900 thatgas engines came to be used, and these, inthe stage of their development at that time,were very unsatisfactory. The installationof a steam plant was very expensive; fueloil had not come into general use and thesteaming was done with coal which hadto be shipped and reshipped to get it toits destination; all of which made it verydifficult and expensive to maintain satis-factory pumping facilities sufficient for thenecessities of the reclamations. The advent of electricity revolutionizedthe drainage system of the entire reclaimedterritory. In 1906 the first electric pump-ing pl
Size: 2126px × 1175px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidpacificservi, bookyear1912
