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Capacity Is Increased. Mr. Gaby said the commission be-- gan construction work in May, 1918, and it was preparatory work only. It was estimated that it would take about three and a half to four years to complete the work. Only | preliminary work had been done when the commission decided to in-- 'crease the capacity, on the recom-- _mendation of engineers, of the canal from 550,000 to 600,000 horsepower.' Regarding the expansion program the consulting engineers were al-- ways consulted, said the witness. Mr. Gaby said he thought the new plan of expansion had been adopted some time in 1918. He was asked as to the estimate of the cost for that, and said they used the esti-- \mate of 1917 and added to it the |amount necessary. He could not | tell the amount from memory. | Mr. Gaby said that labor costs had increased two and a half to three times, and labor fell greatly in efficiency between 1918 and about lAugust. 1921, when the climax, probably, was reached. He --was asked to produce figures to show what proportion of the increased cost was due to labor. He said that tkhe turnovrer in labor in one year had been 26,009, on an average staiff of 6,000. Will Calculate Increases. \ Other factors in increased cost were surtax, increased duties and in-- creased freight rates. Mr. Fergu-- son asked him to prepare a calcou-- lation of the various items of in-- creases that could not have been fore-- seen, and over which there was no control. Hon. Peter Smith also asked for correspondence with the Government in regard to the ex-- pansion program. The extra cost of lining the canal, which increased the flow of the water was about $9,000,000, said Mr. Gaby. _ Any proposed change was always discussed with the consulting engineers and aitera-- | tions made with -- their appro-- | val. These -- consulting engineers |were armmong the foremost on the continent. They also checked the work from time to time as it went on. ' In carrying out experiments to de--| termine the form of the intake a | replica of the river was constructed at Dufferin Island, where flow, cur-- |rent, ice and other conditions were 'accurately reproduced in a model of the river made on a reduced scale of 20 to 1. This was the largest re-- Qroduction of its kind ever made. it was an extra precaution that cost considerable money. Mr. Gaby will show later the approximate cost of this experiment. | No Loss From Camps, | | The cost of plant and stores for| \Chippawa was from 17 to 18 million dollars. Their own or supervised' rented camps housed and fed the men. There was no loss in this de-t partment. | The first plan for Chippawa con-- templated only one open earth and rock cut. Questioned by Mr. Ferguson re-- garding the increase in the estimates on the Chippawa, Mr. Gaby replied that he could not specify them off-i' hand. One item, however, was the | increased cost of the intake, which | jumped from $900,000 to $3,500,000. : Mr. Gaby stated that high prices had ; reached their peak in the autumn of 1920 and the spring of 192%1, al}-- though they had continued unt'i August, 1921. He declared that laboyr, | even more than increased cost of m« -- terial, was responsible for the groat increase over the estimates, and wages went up by leaps and bounds. This the commission had not antici-- pated. ' Compare Tunnel With Canal,. } Questioned about the form of canal, Mr. Gaby said that both tunnel and open canal had been very care-- % fully considered early in 1916. It was decided that the open canal would. be far the cheapest and effMicient. "What percentage of Yorsepower did you gain 'by lining _ channel with concrete?" asked M.rc. Edgar Watson, the Chairman. '"Twenty-- five per cent.," replied Mr. Gaby. Mr. Gaby told the committee that the Chippawa was the only lined . ~| open--ditch power canal in the world. | The lining cost was about $7,000,000. 'After investigating other power canals i\ the Hydro engineers decided that the lcost was Justified for the increaged |efficiency that would be gained in |reducing friction and ultimate up. \| keep. s _ Lommmmmmmmnmmnmmmnnmmmmmmmnmmmmmmmnmmmmnmmmnmmmmnnmmmmemmmmmme 2220