115 324 THS, AN INVESTIGATION OF THE POSSIBILITIES or A POWER SITE ON THE RIFLE RIVER Thesis for the Degree of B. S, H. ,F. Layer ' J. M. Beardslee 1928 -~ ~V" TH ESIS O If?) {X ’5 " ‘ 5 -v .33 "v. i ‘ i.) 1; ”l 15 I § 5t” p‘ l I ‘ I! . xv .— -.‘u, e A_ - f N '1 i am... .n:u.. 7 JAN! W. .V. ... ..r {JEIMUE PM “1.. :v 1a Nuns "omit r ”0... 39 M L\.. . . . .» ...1. “(kg BMW}. _ _| 9. h h a.” .‘ak‘xf 91'.» "x C 6-“ l' i “95‘. i ....v I; An Investigation of the Possibilities of a Power Site on the Rifle River A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of Lichigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science _\,. BY .\ 5 in v Layer J? lfiifieardslee '4 ‘H‘I c Candidates for Degree of Bachelor of Science June 1928 .—__- . -I- _ _ Showing the Rifle River at Preposed Dam Site April 13, 1928 Lower pictures taken f“om river 10214; Purpose and Scepe of Report In 1924. Prof. C.D.Wisler. of the University of hichigan. submitted to the Director of the Land Economic Survey of the State a report upon the water resources of Ogeman county. dealing particularly with the Rifle River. In this report he estimated the total power available in the river as a whole and suggested one of the many possible arrangements of dam locations and heights to utilize the entire fall. No attempt was made. however. to estimate the cost of deveIOping any one site or to inquire,into the financial desirability of taking up the project. either in part or as a whole. Our purpose. then. was to take one of his proposed dam sites and the corresponding heights. investigate the cost of building. equiping. and maintaining such a dam at that point. and balance this cost against the return which might reason- ably be eXpected. Inasmuch as the time which we were able to spend upon the actual survey of the dam.site and flooded area ‘was limited. there are still some unknown elements which should be investigated. However. unless they should prove radically different from.our estimates and approximations they will not affect the validity of our conclusions. Physical Features The Rifle River has its source in the extreme northern portion of Ogeman County. flowing in a general southerly direction through Ogeman and thence in a southeasterly di- rection through Arenac County. emptying into Saginaw Pay a few miles below Omer. The proposed dam site about which our investigation centers lies at the south line of Sec.9.T.2lN.. R.5 E. The nearest railroad point at which there is a regular station is the village of Prescott. on a branch of the De- troit and hackinac. lying about six miles East and two miles South of the site in question. but. should it be desired to run a spur track to the dam site. the nearest connection would be about five miles southwest to the line of the nich- igan Central between Standish and West Branch. We believe. however. that the best method of transporting materials and equipment to the site would be by truck from Prescott. This would involve a haul of about five miles on gravel road and the remainder (three miles) on fair plains road. The eXper- ience of the Consumers Power Company in hauling heavy mach- inery considerable distances through the plains surrounding the Au Sable River Justifies our attitude as to the feas- ibility of this method. The Rifle River basin comprises an area of about three Ihundred and ninety square miles. of which two hundred and seventy one square miles lies within Ogeman County. the re- maining one hundred and nineteen being in Arenac County. The portion of the country about our dam site and that territory which would be affected by the backwater from.such a dam.as that under consideration is rolling and hilly and through this portion the river flows between high clay bluffs overlaid by sand and gravel deposits. At the proposed site. NOTE: SITE No.6 /_5 THE- §UBJECT if THIS THESIS. uwoemuxmto Pawsn SITES. 0E VE LOPE 0 POWER SITE MAP 2: RIFLE": ILNEQ BASIN SHOWING 30 WE E 5! T E5 211 DEVELOPED AND UNDEVELOPED H.I-'.L - 1919 there is an extensive outcrop. in the stream bed. of a sand- stone of such a quality as would afford an excellent founda- tion for dam and power house construction. Since our investigations of soil conditions were limited to a few borings by hand with a four foot soil augur. they are too unreliable to be depended upon. but our results are as follows. The location of the test borings is shown on the large map of the site. Boring No. Results 1 l' Huck. 3' Clay 2 2' Luck. 2' Clay 3 All Sand 4 n n 5 u n 6 1' Luck. 5' Clay 7 u a 8 u n The climatic conditions. of course. do not differ from those of the rest of central Iichigan as regards temperature. It would probably involve an excessive eXpense to try to carry on construction during the winter months. The yearly precipitation averages about 28 inches and is fairly well distribhted throughout the year. being slightly greater dur- ing the spring and summer than during other seasons. The snowfall is moderately heavy and the ground remains covered during most of the winter. This project is unique in that. so far as we are able to estimate. the pond created by the proposed forty-eight foot head of our dam will afford ample storage to enable us to utilize the entire flow of the river. The mass curve sub- mitted herewith shows that a storage capacity of 1.950.000.000 cubic feet is required to hold the entire stream flow. the continuous demand possible with this storage being 308 c.f.s. New. assuming that the average horizontal section of the res- ervoir will be 10 sq. miles in area. a mean depth of slightly under 7 feet will afford the required capacity. Again. assuming that the reservoir is regular and of the form of an inverted pyramid with the highest point at the dam. the mean depth will be 2/3 x 2/3 x 48: 21.4 feet or a value affording a safety factor of 3.1 over that required for complete stor- age. Although this estimate of a mean flooded area of ten square rules sounds rather large. Pnofessor Wisler states that the valley of the West Branch of the Rifle will be flooded for a distance up the river of over two miles and that the valley is somewhat wide and flat here. Should it ever be desired to develop the whole river for water power. the only possibility for obtaining regulated storage of any importance is in Devoe. Spring. and North Lakes. Professor Wisler states that it would be possible to construct a regulating works at low cost at the site of the old logging dam.just below D8708 Lake and above the highway bridge near the center of Section 11. T. 23 N.. R.3 3.. raising the water level in Devoe Lake ten feet and creating a reservoir having an area of approximately one and one-half square miles. The cost of this project would be low as the land that would be overflowed has little value. and none of these lakes are or could well be used for resort purposes. It is believed that. after making proper allowance for evapora- tion. sufficient storage could be provided by this reservoir to increase the low water flow of the river at all lower points by an average of thirty cubic feet per second for the hundred days of minimum flow each year. The subject of water supply is one upon which there is considerable doubt. No continuous daily records of discharge of the Rifle River have ever been obtained. A gaging station was established near Omer on September 1. 1902 and daily records of gage height were kept until December 31. 1903. The gage readings were then discontinued because of the shifting nature of the stream bed which destroyed the relation between gage height and discharge. Twenty-four discharge measurements had been made on this stream at various places however. the results of which are published in Water Supply Papers Nos. 83 97.129.170.206. and 244. these being annual reports of the United States Geological Survey for the years 1902-1908 in- clusive. In addition. Professor hisler made four discharge measurements at various points during the month of September 1923. We procured the gage height records for the Omer gaging station referred to above. plotted the rating curve which accompanies this report. and from it obtained the values of the flow at ten day periods at Omer. Profesor tisler's report contains estimates of normal flow of the river at various points. two of which are Omer. and our proposed dam site and the ratio between these quantities is as 1 to 0.75. Further- more. the records of the U.S.Weather Bureau stations at Omer. at East Tamas. and at test Branch show that the total rain- fall for the year of 1903 was about 1.05 times the total for the minimum year during the period of record (thirty-two years). Consequently. we took the discharge figured for the Omer gaging station and multiplied them throughout by the 2.22 factor .105==O.71 to obtain figures for the minimum discharge to be expected at our dam site. These resulting values are shown in the accompanying table. Discharge measurements 1903. Ionth Day Discharge in c.f.s. Jan. 1 391 10 305 20 315 50 584 Feb. 10 435 2 370 30 494 Lar. 10 1528 20 647 30 341 Apr. 10 512 20 426 30 272 ..lay 10 2:58 20 190 30 252 June 10 206 20 206 30 206 July 10 142 20 154 50 142 Aug. 10 185 20 121 50 185 Sep. 10 315 20 229 30 178 Oct. 10 257 20 256 30 190 Nov. 10 192 20 215 50 206 Dec. 10 252 20 250 50 327 As Professor.Wis1er states in his report; "These values should be considered as tentative estimates made for compu- ting the approximate amount of poser available from the stream. Although they are believed to be conservative. no design should be contemplated without first acquiring more data on the flow of the Eifle River than is at present avail- able." The present flow characteristics of the river ( as indica- ted by the discharge records described above) are shown by the accompanying duration curve. The installation and Operation of the proposed power plant would. as previously stated. Inn- der the flow continuous at a rate of slightly more than three hundred cubic feet per second and it is probable that this change would necessitate the purchase of flowage rights on the stream. Host of the flowage rights on the Rifle Liver were. until the spring of 1923. owned by KcFarlan and Wilson of Flint. but at this time. these rights mere sold through a third party to a purchaser whose identity is unknown even to the former owners. 10 General Description of Plant and Controlling Elevations. It appears. from a study of the existing conditions. that the most economical type of dam in this case would be one of the earth fill type. It seems unnecessary to have any masonry section whatsoever. since according to the available data. there will never be any overflow. However. emergency spillways will be provided of sufficient capacity to care for the entire maximum rate of flow minus the three hundred cubic feet per second which may be removed through one turbine. Siphon spill- uays two feet in height and thirty feet wide will afford this capacity and will be set to keep the high water elevation at or below an elevation of 794.00. Stephenson's formula for wave height. H==1.5f5¥2.5 -4fD-. where H is the height of the maximum wave in feet and D the fetch in miles. when solved using D as four gives H 4.1 ft. Hence. taking 5.0 ft. for additional safety. the elevation of the top of the dam.becomes 799.00. 9 Since the bulk of the fill will of necessity be of sand. relatively flat slopes will have to be used. Say 1 on 4 up- stream and l on 5 downstream. the downstream slope being pro- tected by berms every fifteen feet vertically and the upstream by rip-rap. Imperviousness will be secured by the use of a clay puddle core wall. A twenty foot wide top will be allowed for a roadway. The toe limits of this dam and five foot con- tours across its surface are shown in the accompanying top- ographic map of the dam and site and. by measuring the areas of successive contour planes. the yardage of fill was ll computed and found to be 160.570 yds. The overall dimensions of the dam. measuring between extreme limits of the fill are about 800 x 400 feet. The head of water will vary between forty-eight and forty one feet (assuming a draw down of seven feet during the per- iod of minimum flow) the elevations of the headwater at these times being 794.00 and 787.00 respectively. The tail- water will be subject to less noticeable fluctuations and will have a mean elevation of 746.00. Below the dam site the channel is comparatively wide and clear and it is improbable that ice gorges will ever form of sufficient size to mater- ially affect the elevation of the tail-water. All these elevations are referred to the U.S.C.S. datum. the nearest bench being one set by Prof. Eisler in 1925 and described as follows. 2.1.54 Highest point on 8.3. corner of west abutment of old iron bridge (now destroyed) over Rifle River at south line. Sec.9. T.21 H.. R. 5 E.. 31ev.754.57. The power house. to be located as shown on the map of the plant. should be about 50 x 60 x 50 feet with a substructure of reinforced concrete and the superstructure of brick. Two reinforced concrete penstocks seven feet in diameter will be provided leading from an intake tower to the power house and a reinforced concrete blow-off pipe ten feet in diameter will be laid in order that the pond may be emptied should an emergency so require. These items are shown in plan on the accompanying topographic map and it will be noticed that the intake tower is located towards one side of the dam. thus calling for longer penstocks. This arrangement is necessary in order that the tower may be located upon firm ground rather than upon fill. The game laws of the state will also rewuire the install- ation of a fish ladder. specifications for which may be ob- tained from the Department of Conservation. hachinery and Equipment Although only one turbine will ever be required at any one time. the additional investment required to provide a reserve unit is small compared with the total involved and seems well worth while when it is considered that one unit may be out of operation for repair for a period of several months while much power goes to waste. hence it seems advisable to install two 1500 H.P. turbines. The alternators will each be 1100 K.V.A.. 23t0 volt. 5 phase. 60 cycle machines such as are cosionly installed in plants of this size. For reasons to be eXplained later under the heading of "market". two sets of transformers will be required. one set to be installed at the power house and another at a substa- tion some sixteen miles distant. The first set will consist of three single phase transformers. each of 400 K.V.A. capa- city. with the windings so balanced as to step up the voltage from the generated value of 2500 to the transmitting voltage of 22.000. The other set of transformers will be of the same capacity but will be designed to raise the voltage from 15 22.000 to 140.000. Both sets will be of the oil insulated. air cooled type. The transmission line. due to the fact that the power is transmitted at only 22.000 volts. need not be of the toner type equipped with eXpensive suspension insulators. but may be of ordinary poles with pin insulators. Total Power. Larhet. & Year's income From a study of the accompanying mass curve and flow data and assuming a maximum dratdown of seven feet. we estimated the average head for each month of the year and. using a con- tinuous discharge of three hundred cubic feet per second. computed the total annual power available at the turbines. various handbooks give the following as reasonable values of the losses to be eXpected. Unit Loss (2: of total] Turbine 8 Generator 7 Transformers 2 Transmission lines 5 Liner losses 3 Total losses 25 % By applying this percentage of loss to the primary power of the water the total output for the minimum year was found to be 7.404.000 K. h. H. delivered at destination. See accompanying table. g2. Days Jan. 51 Feb. 28 Mar. 51 Apr. 30 hay 31 June 30 July 51 Aug. 31 Sep. 30 Oct. 31 Nov. #0 Dec. 31 Hrs, 744 672 744 720 744 720 744 744 720 744 720 744 Head 45 46 47 48 46 44 42 41 41 42 43 44 3.37.51, 647.000 588.000 666.000 658.000 650.000 602.000 578.000 560.000 650 g (100 588.000 622.000 7 .404 .000 £1.13. 1530 1560 1600 1650 1560 1495 1430 1390 1390 1430 1460 1495 Delivered out; 807 874 896 914 874 837 800 778 778 800 817 857 N H H I! H 14 :ut (13}. ) The present market for poher in Ogeman County is very small. At present the city of test Iranch uses approximately 150.000 K.W.H. per year and Rose City and Prescott combined use slightly less. West Brancn is already supplied with power from a small dam on the test Eranch of the Rifle (see small map) and Rose City and Prescott are supplied by the Consumers Poser Company. The total power demznd in the county is about 250.000 K.h.H. per year. The proximity of Bay City and Saginaw however. provides an excellent market for any power that may be develOped at this site. It seems then. that the best method of disposing of the generated poser would be to run a transmission line direct to the main lines of the Consumers Power Company joining them near Twining. This will necessitate the construction of about sixteen miles of transmission line and for this reason. we considered it advisable to install two separate sets of trans- formers. one at the power house and one at the Consumers Pow- er l40.000 volt lines so that the voltage may be raised in two steps. allowing us to transmit at a low enough voltage to avoid the use of steel toners. There being no disturbing fac- tor in this circuit except the almost negligible self induc- tance of the transmission line. the entire peter delivery will be at a power factor very nearly equal to unity. Since the rates at thich potcr may be sold are supervised by the Public Utilities Commission it is hard to estimate the rate which one night eXpect to obtain under our circumstances. This rate is selected after a consideration of many factors. chief anon; which is the amount of the investment. he were able t) find. honevcr. in the incorporation papers of the Wol- verine Power Company. figures showing that they originally sold their power to the Consumers Power Company at a figure of 40.00563 per kilowatt hour and the director of the Tariff Foard states that this figure has since been raised to {0.008 per kilosatt hour. Since the total cost of the plant for which this rate is current was very nearly the some as ours. we feel justifies in counting upon selling our output at eight mills per kilowatt hour. This figure gives a total yearly income. upon a sale of 7.404.000 kilowatt hours. of 059-230. Costs The authorities upon which re lase the following estimates of costs are: "Handbook of Cost Data" - Gillette "Hydro-electric Handbook" - Creaber & Justin "Hydro-electric Poser Stations" - Rushlou'fi Lof "nlectrical Equipment" - frown 16 "Engineering of Power Plants" - Fernald a Grrok All costs are totals and refer to the units in place. preper allowance being made for engineering. insiection. etc. Prices on-land were obtained from the original survey notes 0! hr. DeVries of the Land Economic Survey Dep't. and were cor- rected to the present date by 4r. DeVries himself. Total Cost of Entire Installation Earthwork 160.572 - 10003159372 yds.D.VQ/yd.- $119,400. Power House 60 x 50 x 50 o .65/cu.ft.= s 58.500 Turbines 2. 1100 K.v. a $14.00: s 30.800 Alternators. switchboards. exciters. and cables. 2. 100 n.0. Gen. 3 s20.cq/K.s.= # 44.000 Transmission line (16 mi. Q $1200 3 ' $ 19.200 Land (4920 Acres 3 $7.003 $34,400 (5400 “ @010.00: 354.000 s 08.400 Penstocks 175 yds. G $12.00 I 0 2.100 Siphon spillway 550 yds. 0 012.00 I 3 6.600 Blowoff pipe 217 yde. @ $12.00 8 $ 2.600 Transformers £400 awe 22000 v) - t 4.500 3 Transformers 400 Era 140.000 V) I 0 7.500 Fish Ladder 82 yds. Q £12.00 3 § #14900 3564-600. The dam once constructed. it becomes necessary to estimate the fixed charges and costs of operation. A summary of our conclusions on these amounts and a calculation of the net re- turn on the investment follow. lost of these figures were taken from Creeger & Justin's "Hydro-electric Handbook". 17 Financial Statement Showing Return on Investment and Cost per K.W. hour. Total Income 7.404.000 Kw-hr. Q 8 mills I ;59.230 Operating Charges Depreciation 5% = 018.250 Sinking Fund 5% = 010.900 Operating Cost 013.800 Taxes $7.000 Operators salaries $4.000 Minor repairs $1.000 Insurance $1.000 niecelaneous 0 800 Total Operating Charges £42.930 Net Profit ' $16.500 Interest on capital I 16.300 = 4.48% 364.600 Total energy delivered 8 7404.000 Kw-hr. Cost per hh-hr. 42930 x 100 - 5.8 mills 7404000 Construction cost per Eh 8 364,600 : $165 2200 Conclusions From the above figures it will be seen that the net return on the investment which may be etpected is less than four and one half percent. This return. of course. is too small to jus- tify the execution of the project. inasmuch as larger returns are easily obtainable at less risk by simple investnent. A more extensive and complete survey of the flooded area and stream gagings over a longer period might bring forth new el- ements not here considered or chan5e assumptions here made. but it seems iMprobable that the change would be of such mag- nitude as to being the possible return up to a satisfying figure. 18 One p ssibility still remains. Mhile the development of his one project does not seen practicable it is possible hat it's develOpment in conjunction with the rest of the unit might prove desirable. There is some :30 feet of avail- aLlc fall in the river and the discharge increases consider- ably towards the lower part of the stream. Furthermore. cer- tain savings would be possible were the whole stream devel- osed as a unit. Rhona other thinés. one transmission line and one set of high voltage transformers would serve all the dams. automatic control might be practicable. and good control of ... a r» , (D S C c+ h... m c!- (‘1‘ 5.4 r... (U U) (D the stream flow could be possible. It seems. t considerations would at least justify a complete tosographic survey of the river and the adjacent area and the establish- ment of gaging stations at several points. It should be understood. however. that unless funds are available for conplete development. the particular project which is the subject of this thesis is unworthy of further invertigation. ...12...:_.. ‘I.l.ll in”. “I.“ o Afvl '11....hnl . 0 . I V.. .‘r’nirn. i I .\ T . . .l . . q . .. . . . . . fir , . . . _. . . r . v v . . . ‘ n I w . . . . . . . A t . . ; v . 1 . v o ... . , . . . .. . . . _ . . 4 . A A I o . . . - . . . . . . . . . . , . . y . . , . . . . . . .,. , . . 4 .. o . . . s . a .. . I R: Y‘C F 1 ”FL & ESSER (3° NEW a nz§§nr . fl .fi. «1:11 1 v r ...-.uafiun..111.:!fi. allullao: villi-3.1 "Union. 11.1.1.0: ..nooihbnudflluflwtlifl .. -.. .- .. 1. .13.. . o n .(unl 0. cl ..... 9;.“ flit. ~Q McCHRGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIE :4 3“ t 10" I H, ""IM‘ 1293 . 3 WI |h|VH'|'*'I||~| i 03085 7035