The Tunnel Scheme

On February 3, 1886, Thomas Evershed of Rochester, NY, a division engineer on the Erie Canal, proposed a new concept for using much more Niagara water.   It appeared in a letter to the editor of the Lockport Union, a newspaper published in Lockport, NY.   It was the reverse of of previous designs.   To that time, the mills on the edge of the cliff below the falls received water through an open canal and more and used a portion of the fall at the cliff on which the buildings were erected for its use.   Evershed proposed a tunnel running from a point 12 feet above the surface of the upper river above the reservation to strike the river above the mouth of the hydraulic canal, a distance of about 5,000 feet.   Then, continue the tunnel under the river's edge for about 5,600 feet to the gorge below the falls.   Water would be supplied to the turbines in a series of canals (1) & (2) above the reservation and discharged into the tunnel and the river after turning the turbines.   Water to the penstocks woulds be provided by 12 crosscut canals from the river.   After turning the turbines, the water would flow to the discharge tunnel and out into the river below the falls.   This scheme would allow many mills to be placed above the reservation in an industrial district (1), (2).   The last mile of tunnel under the village could be used by the old mills to discharge their water into the tunnel.   This arrangement could accommodate 238 mills of 500 hp each above the reservation for a total of 119,000 hp.   If accomplished, it would be the largest hydraulic system in the world.   This concept was quickly adopted by local businessmen who requested a state charter for the tunnel.   This was granted on March 31, 1886.   The cumbersome name for the company was the Niagara River Hydraulic Tunnel, Power and Sewer Company of Niagara Falls, New York, known as the "Tunnel Company", with Charles B. Gaskill as president. ^{Adams 115-120}

The Tunnel Company found it difficult to sell its stocks and bonds, mainly because experts said that burrowing a 2-mile tunnel through solid rock would encounter insurmountable technical obstacles.   Further, Niagara Falls, a village of 5,000, would have insufficient business to use 119,000 hp.   Nevertheless, New York promoters led by Francis Lynde Stetson, drew up a plan whereby a new company, called the Cataract Construction Company, would act as a construction agent to the Niagara Falls Power Company, which would acquire the Tunnel Company and deliver power after construction ended and operation began.   The Cataract Company would be dissolved after it completed the work.   The Cataract Construction Company fully owned the Niagara Falls Power Company.   Thus, the Cataract company assumed all of the responsibilities for building the tunnel, wharves, penstocks, and transmission of power.   The president of the Cataract Company was Edward Dean Adams.   Dr. Coleman Sellers of Philadelphia was elected president and chief engineer of the Niagara Falls Power Company.   (Sellers tribute: (1) (2) (3)). ^{Adams 127-136}

There many technical questions for the new company: Would a tail-race tunnel be more practical than the old method of a long inlet hydraulic canal?   Was the old plan of placing a mill over its own waterwheel be better than a central power source that was distributed to various mills? Could the power be transmitted a considerable distance by shafts or belts or cables? By compressed air or water pressure? By electricity which was new and doing amazing things in small operations, but could it be applied to a scale larger than had ever been accomplished? Could the large city of Buffalo with 255,000 population be reached to make the investment profitable? Would the icing of the canal water in winter reduce the power output?   Thomas Edison was consulted on the feasibility of generating direct current (DC) electrical power for local, Tonawanda and Buffalo lighting use and he saw no technical problems.   However, Edison did not think that electricity for Buffalo power use was feasible.   The possibility of AC electrical power was discussed at that time too, so no decision was made on the type of power to be generated.   At the time, large amounts of electrical power had been transmitted for 1 to 2 miles, and small amounts of power transmitted up to 30 miles, but large amounts of power had not been transmitted over long distances, such as to Buffalo, 22 miles away.   Hydroelectric power offered the obvious advantage of transmitting power over long distances in comparison to mechanical means that it deserved further study.   Since hydroelectric power generation was in its infancy, its possible use led to an extensive study now that the Cataract Company had the money to proceed with construction. ^{Adams 141-164}

In the U.S. at the time, there were no comparable hydroelectric power stations that could serve as models for Niagara power because they were all small operations.   The Niagara Falls Power Company offered a $100,000 prize for anyone who could develop a method to transmit electricity long distance.   No one responded to this offer.   A world wide search began.   Therefore, while plans for tunnel construction proceeded, because it would serve any type of power generation, Edward Dean Adams, President of the Cataract Company, and Dr. Coleman Sellers visited Europe in February, 1890 to become educated in what Europeans were doing with hydro power generation.   While there, they founded the International Niagara Commission on June 25, 1890, as a scientific and engineering symposium to determine the best system for generating Niagara power.   The commission offered and awarded a series of prizes totaling £4,500 ($3,000) contributed by the Cataract Company for the invited engineers and engineering firms that proposed the best solution for how to use the Niagara Falls power.   About 20 companies submitted plans, but the biggest 3 firms, Westinghouse, Edison General Electric, and Thomson-Houston, did not because, as George Westinghouse put it, Cataract was "trying to get one hundred thousand dollars' worth of information for $3,000." ^{Cheney 44}   The Cataract Company used the technical information provided by the contestants to develop the falls.   Compressed air and hydraulics as a means of power distribution over long distances were considered inadequate.   Eventually, it became clear that electrical transmission over long distances, say the 22 miles to Buffalo, would be superior to hydraulic or pneumatic transmissions.   Against the advice of Thomas Edison and William Kelvin, alternating electrical current was selected as the standard to be used on May 6, 1893.   Westinghouse was selected as the builder for the first 2 A-C generators because it had proven its effectiveness in lighting Niagara Falls city in 1883.   Edison General Electric was selected to build the power lines to Buffalo. ^{Adams 181-189}

Westinghouse completed the powerhouse in 1895 and delivered 15,000 hp locally to firms like the Pittsburgh Reduction Company (later, the Aluminum Company of America).   At the time, this amount of power delivered at one place was unprecedented.   G.E. completed the transmission lines to Buffalo in 1896.   Eventually, Westinghouse built 7 more A-C generators capable of delivering an additional 50,000 hp.   G.E. won the contract to build a second powerhouse with 11 A-C generators. ^{Cheney 88}