Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-06-29
A GREAT CANAL.
The Preliminary Survey Finished by Geo. W. W.Norton-Parties Consid- ing the Project Think Sufh-
 oien'ly We'll of It to Make
 tho Gonu1afo Survev.


 oienily We'll of It to Make
 the Complete Survey.
 Col. George W. Norton, the we'll known clvIl engineer, came down from his place in Mohawk valley, on the Gila river, on Sunday morning, the purpose of bis present visit being to permanently locate the line of the great canal, the prelim- mary survey of which he completed a few weeks ago and which runs it's entire length through Yuma county, Arizona. Mir. Norton has just completed maps and profile of of the proposed work and made careful calculation of the amount of earth, loose rock and solid rock to be excavsted with an approxi- mate estimate of the cost of the same.
 The canal heading will be at Hinton's island. at the lower end of Eureka cans yon. The island is solid rock back bone in the center of the river, 15O feet feet long, 80 feet wide and rises 20 feet above high water mark, making ssplend- i'd natural anchorage or support for 8 dam.
 As the current is very strong and swift between the island and rock bluffs on the Arizona side valuable water power can be secured for manufacturing, lightning and other purposes. The first rock, the solidIty of the walls insuring the canal against any damage from 8 sudden rise of the river. From there ~f E l. pass through more or less solid and loose rock country, making the construction rather expensive, but taking into consid- eration the security aud permsnency of the banks thus afford-d, it will evident ly prove more of an advantage than oth. erwise. The water of the canal will be carried across the Gila through several steel pipes and after again emptyipg ip- to the canal will continue on down the valley to the Sonora line.
 As the fall is 0.52S to the mile, water can be carried on to the mesas below Yuma and in Sonora, which will be done ss the country becomes settled, as it IS we'll known that for grapes and several other vrriety of fruits, as we'll as for all of the small grains, the messs skirtipg the valley of the Colorado, are unsur- passed. The canal will be sixty feet wide at the bottom with a slope of one to one ard will carry water seven feet deep, a volume of 5O,000 miners inches or 1000 cubic feet of water per second.
 1t is estimated that this amount of water will irrigste S0,0O0 acres, or 125 square miles. The canal from it's head to the sonora line will be about 54 miles in length and in its construction 1t is es- timsted that 6.203, ,SS5 cubic yards of material will be moved, 2S3, ,25l cubic yards of which will be solid rock. The cost of excavating the main waterway approxlmates close to thlee quarters of million dollars, while the additional cost of uperstructure, buildings, pipe line, lsterals, etc., will be nearly as much more, making the total cost close to one and one half millions.
 At casual glance this looks like a large sum to expend on an irriQatipg scheme. but when 1t is considered that it will bring under cultivation SO.OOO acres of semi-tropical lands, suscepti- ble of the highest state of cultivation. whereon can be raised all kinds of citrus and decduous fruits, as we'll as grains. vegetables and forage, the cost is only a mere b8gstelle as compared with the great benefit and profits to be derived from the outlay. The value of the lands irrigated, now nominal, will reach enor- nous figures when brought under culti.