Strong Men and Horses Build the Basin

Strong Men and Horses Build the Basin. Interpreting History. , Clearing the overgrowth from 28 acres for a reservoir here was a major undertaking in 1911. Men used hand saws and axes to cut and remove trees and surface growth. Teams of horses or oxen pulled away the debris and any usable timber. A small contractor's ream then grubbed out the stumps - a difficult job. "The grubbing was done by means of a stump-puller and a two-horse team, excepting in very difficult places, where it was done with hand labor, using mattocks and shovels, aided by blasting" (The Cornell Civil Engineer, 1911)., A stump pulling device was constructed on-site under the guidance of Victor Hammel, who led the effort. The power of two horses, strategically placed chains, and the use of nearby stumps still anchored in the ground allowed the workers to systematically uproot any stump to which they could properly connect., Every single piece of the entangled trees' root systems needed to be removed before horse-drawn scrapers could contour the loamy sand, clay and gravel. The grading process shaped the bottom of the impoundment area while also collecting the needed fill material for the main dam and embankments. Removal of soil also limited underwater decay of any leftover plant material once the reservoir filled. Some of the sand and gravel removed was used to make concrete which was later used to build the spillway., The 30-foot-wide stepped concrete spillway, seen to your left, directed excess water out of the reservoir and back into Tibbs Run. Releasing the excess here in those rare times of extremely high water prevented erosion from occurring elsewhere. Because of the size of the pipes bringing water into the reservoir, during periods of high rainfall much of the water in the upper watershed remained in the creeks rather than entering the reservoir. A wooden walkway across the spillway allowed the reservoir caretaker to easily walk over it when needed., [Inset:] ,

Wanted: Strong Backs for Stump Pulling , Qualifications: Must be willing to endure hard labor, outdoors (mostly muddy), in all weather conditions; experience with hand saws, mattocks, axes and shovels required., Preference given to those with dynamite blasting experience, or able to manage horse drawn soil scraping teams. Men also needed to operate and maintain horse-driven stump pulling device., Pay: $1.50 for labor per nine-hour day , $5.00 for team and driver

, [Caption:] , Stump pulling device as drawn by Victor Hammel, project contractor. The stump to be pulled was attached to one of several hitching chains (A, B) depending on the force needed. The horses were attached at C and moved the lever back and forth between dotted lines as shown. Illustration source: The Cornell Civil Engineer, March, 1911.