Prairie du Sac Hydro Electric Power Dam
Construction Photos
F. S. Eberhart, Photographer
At the time construction on the dam started the railroad track servicing Sauk City and Prairie du Sac ended at the stockyard about half a block north of the grain elevator. This track had to be extended to the dam site and out into the river in order to deliver materials to the construction site. Rail was not only the most efficient way to get materials and equipment to the construction site, in some cases it was the only way.
The picture at the right shows the steam driven pile driver driving wood piles into the river bed to support the railroad track out over the river to the construction area.
The photo at the left shows the rows of wood piles driven into the river bed to anchor the spillway of the dam. The lock and power house can be seen in the background.
The barge crane in the photo at the right is working on the lock that was necessary for river traffic to continue after the dam was completed.
The photo at the left shows the generator room being used for construction storage. Large round openings can be seen in the concrete wall starting at the left edge of the photo. Each of these is for the large shaft that will connect the generator to the water turbine that will provide the power to turn the generator. The three generators in the photo below can be seen at the far end of the room .
The photo at the right is the far end (above photo) of the generator room with three generators installed. These are the 25 cycle generators that provided power for the traction company in Milwaukee, WI. and were replaced with 60 cycle units when the traction company went out of business.