CHARLES RIVER DAM REPORT

The Committee appointed by the legislature to consider the advisability of constructing a dam across the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge filed its report with the clerk of the General Court yesterday afternoon. The committee consisted of Mr. R. H. Dana '74, Mr. H. S. Pritchett, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Col. S. M. Mansfield, of the United States Engineering Corps. The committee recommends that a dam be built near the present site of the Craigie bridge and that a fresh-water basin be maintained at a permanent level. The report is most thorough and exhaustive, and its preparation required an immense amount of work covering a period of about two years. The engineering problems connected with the project, while complicated, are entirely capable of solution. The chief reasons for the construction of the dam are the resulting sanitary betterment of the contiguous region and the value which such a basin would have in relation to the Boston, Cambridge and Metropolitan park systems. Moreover it would be a great addition to the attractions of the city proper.

It was contended by those opposed to the plan that the water in the proposed basin could not be kept clean, that the basin would therefore be dangerous to the residents living on the banks, and that it would be prejudicial to the interests of Boston harbor.

These objections were all refuted by the evidence of the experts employed by the committee. The sanitary question was the hardest accurately to determine, but from a long series of experiments it was conclusively proved that the proposed dam would materially better the existing conditions.

The committee recommends the construction of a dam, one hundred and thirty feet in width, to serve also as a bridge. Provision is made for a large lock and proper sluicing appliances. The estimated cost of such a structure is $1,250,000 or substantially the same as the cost of a bridge, which must, if the dam is not constructed, be built at this point.

The committee has drafted for consideration of the legislature a bill providing for the construction of the dam.