Cold Fingers The Oregon Surveyor | Vol. 38, No. 1, 2015 10 Bob Taylor, PLS #16 AT THE END OF THE SEASON IN 1962, I took a job with BPA (Bonneville Power Administration) in Portland. From mid-November to April, I worked setting power line towers from the Wanapum Dam toward Vantage and Ellensburg, Washington. To get to the work site, it was quicker to go from Quincy rather than Ellensburg, so there I was. Once design work was completed, our task was to set the location of the towers by setting a wooden hub at each leg and a point on the centerline of the transmission line showing the Engineering Station of the tower. Most of this work was not very exciting because the ground was rolling hills covered with sage brush. Th en, chainman, Bob Taylor, got his big break. It was 20 degrees outside with two feet of snow and a breeze of about 10 mph. Th e crew chief asked if I would like to learn how to “run the gun.” “Yes. Oh yes,” I replied. As I recall, it was a Gurley with the usual four brass leveling screws. We pulled up to the tower location to be staked and I jumped out and began to kick snow away from the control point. Th e crew chief cracked his window and said I needed to clear the area for about fi ve feet around the setup point. I set up the tripod, mounted the transit on it, placed it over the control point and started to level the instrument. Th e crew chief called me back into the Jeep to get warm. I was so excited I didn’t realize I was cold. He explained to me that I would need to get the transit very close to the control point using a plumb bob. I had only used a plumb bob for chaining. He took me through the procedure and how to level by turning the level bubble on the instrument crossways to the leveling screws. Out I went. I got the center of the “gun” over the hub and started on the leveling screws. Within ten minutes (I should have been done), I was using both hands to try to move a single screw. Th e crew chief then called me back to the Jeep. I’m sure it was to get warm but he began to explain the back site and angle turning process. He gave me his transit reading glass and told me not to breathe on it as it would freeze. He said when I was over the point and level, I should then set the Vernier’s to zero. Another 20 minutes and I was ready. Th e Chief fi nally got out of the Jeep. He checked my setup and the horizontal plate and then pointed me to the back site which was a pole about a quarter mile away. I turned the angle and he checked it. We were good to go. Two other chainman got out and the chief went back in the Jeep. Th is must have been the longest time ever taken to set four corners and the centerline of a BPA tower, but it was MY tower and I was hooked. I knew I would be a real surveyor someday! ◉ BOB TAYLOR’S CADASTRAL TALES Leaving Th e Cadastral Surveyors Th e Wanapum Dam Wanapum Dam is located on the Columbia River, six miles downstream of Vantage, Wash., 18 miles upstream of Priest Rapids Dam and 415 miles above the mouth of the river. The dam was named Wanapum in honor of the band of Native Americans who live along a stretch of the Columbia River from Vantage south toward Pasco, Wash. Construction start: July 1959 Spillway length: 820 feet Power generation began: July 1963 Number of spillway gates: 12 (each gate is 50'x 68') General construction contract cost: $93,277,690 Number of turbines and generators: Ten (of each) which spin at 85.7 rotations Length: 8,637 feet per minute. Maximum height from deepest Horsepower of each turbine: 150,000 excavation point: 185 feet Rated generating capacity: 1,092 megawatts
PLSO Issue 1 2015 Jan_Feb
To see the actual publication please follow the link above