The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1891-05-08
GREAT ENGINEERING
a. WORK.
The Hawaiian Sugar CO1npany's
Ditch af MAXWELL. Kauai.

The Hawaiian Sugar COInpany'S
Ditch at Makawei, Kauai.
The completion of the Hawaiian
Sugar Co.'s ditch on the 25th April,
to the lands of the company at Maka-
well, Kauai, is one of the most essential
factors in the building up of the large
plantation of the Hawaiian Sugar Co. at
Maxwell, thus adding another large
element of wealth to the Hawaiian ISL
ands, and good prospects of pecuniary
success to the energetic promoters of
this enterprise.
The Hanapepe stream from which the
water is taken, is one OF the largest
streams on the island of Kauai, and it is
less subject to fluctuations than many of
the streams, owing to its favorable situa-
ton and large watershed. Its numerous
branches collect the water from the
center and highest parts of the island,
and converge to single stream some
nine miles from the sea. At this point
the two main branches come together,
and it is at point five hundred feet
above tine junction OF these two branches,
on the east fork, that the beautiful
Hanapepe Falls, 251 feet high, are stu
ated.
The main watershed of the river lies
directly in the path of the trade winds,
and while rain may be and generally is
falling good portion OF the year at the
falls and higher up, scarcely any reaches
| the sea in the vicinity of Makaweli; a
climatic condition peculiar to many por-
tons OF the Hawaiian Islands, on the
western and southern slopes.
The porous character of the rock on
| the island is also an important factor in
the steadiness of the amount of water in
the Hanapepe stream, storing up the
water in times of overplus and giving it
out in times of drouth. This was demon
strated during the progress of the work,
as in the heavy side hill cuttings in
rock, and in the tunnels, considerable
increase of moisture from the sides of
the cuts, in many places, and from the
roof of two OF the tunnels, was noticed
after heavy storm. This would be a
small amount, of course, at any one
point, but when collected from large
watershed would be respectable per-
centage of the total. This refers simply
to the deeper percolations and not to the
natural drainage of the surface soils.
The general character of the canyon of
! the Hanapepe stream is very rugged,
| with precipitous sides, and, in many
| places, noticeable at the canyon station
and lowest pipe crossings, has nearly
perpendicular rock bluffs OF about 600 feet.
The very ruggedness of the canyon has
been the chief reason in past times, of
hn fnh of fhn
stream from being taken out to build up
sugar plantations on the fertile lands
| lying in broad circle near the sea. In
fact the scheme had been by many
deemed impracticable, but after the
lease OF the lands came into the hands
| of Hon. III. P. Baldwin, the pioneer on
| the Islands in the matter of laying large
pipes for irrigation, and his associates,
constituting the Hawaiian Sugar Co.,
the practicability of the scheme has not
only been demonstrated, in the building
of the ditch, but asystem capable of irriga-
| ting 5000 acres of very fertile cane land,
| by the cheapest known method, gravity,
| has been built at a cost not exceeding
| the first cost OF tirst-class pumping
plant, doing equal duty and pumping to
height of 100 feet.
The water from the east fork is taken
out at the foot of the falls, carried across
the west fork, where it meets the waters
of that fork, taken out few hundred
feet above the junction. Two low ma
sonry dams built across the two branches
at the points of divergence will insure all
the water of the river at its lowest stages.
This amount during the past year has
not fallen below so cubic feet per second,
an amount of water capable of irregating
from $500 to 5000 acres of sugar cane.
The capacity of the ditch is 80 cubic feet
per second, or $4,000 gallons per hour.
The ditch is 1871 miles long from the
head dams to the reservoir.