ENGINEERING
Once a military stronghold for maharajahs, the fortress of Mangla in West Pakistan has in recent years commanded nothing more than a sweeping view of a river valley to the southwest and snow-tipped mountains to the north. Last week Pakistan President Ayub Khan came to Mangla to dedicate its new clay and sandstone dam—part of a $2 billion complex that when completed will be the world's largest irrigation network, bringing water to 30 million acres of land and serving the 50 million people who live in the vast Indus River basin.
Promoted by the World Bank and agreed to by India and Pakistan in 1960, the project defines the water rights of the two countries, and will control the seasonal fluctuations of the 1,900-mile Indus and its five tributaries through a system of canals, dikes and dams. The U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, West Germany and New Zealand have committed themselves to supply nearly $1 billion toward the cost.
Racing for the Bonus. The Mangla dam, first part of the complex to be completed, took a group of eight U.S. companies led by Guy F. Atkinson Co. of San Francisco less than six years to build at a cost of $510 million. The embankment stands 380 ft. high, is 11,000 ft. long, and holds 75 million cu. yds. of dry earth and rock. It is the world's fifth largest earth-filled dam and has the largest-capacity spillway, discharging 1.2 million cu. ft. of water per second, four times as much as Niagara Falls. Five 36-ft. tunnels drain the river; a subsidiary dike completes a 100 sq.mi. reservoir. Eventually, the powerhouse will hold ten 100,000-kw. generators to supply Pakistan's burgeoning industry.
Logistically, it was a prodigious undertaking. Mangla lies in a hot, dusty plain, some 50 miles east of Rawalpindi, Pakistan's hilly capital. A fully air-conditioned town had to be built to accommodate 2,500 American and European workers. More than 18,000 Urdu-speaking Pakistanis were trained on the job, some learning to operate the most modern sort of earth-moving equipment. A special diet had to be provided for them after the contractors found they lacked the stamina for an eight-hour day. A month before the Jhelum River was to be diverted, war broke out between India and Pakistan. Though the battle line came within 50 miles of the site, only nightwork was stopped, since the camp had to be blacked out. The contractors were racing to complete the project ahead of schedule and collect a $6,000,000 bonus, which the Atkinson consortium counted on when it set its price—$20 million under the next lowest bid.
No Hurry to Leave. Present at the dedication of the Mangla dam last week were Guy F. Atkinson, who at 92 is still active as board chairman of the company, and his son, Company President George Atkinson. They founded their family-dominated enterprise in 1926 and brought it to its present top rank as a heavy-engineering outfit, specializing in hydroelectric projects.
The Atkinsons are not anxious to leave Pakistan soon. While polishing up the Mangla project, they are preparing to bid on an even larger slice of the Indus river complex: a second dam, to be built at Tarbela on the Indus for about $950 million.