The San Francisco call., 1895-07-31
VALLEY ROAD PROGRESS,
The Grading South of Mormon
Channel Nearly Com
pleted.
ALL THE WORK BEING RUSHED.
A Special Effort Being Made to
Commence Track-Laying This
Week.

STOCKTON, CAL, July 30.-Within a
week the grading of the entire roadbed OF
the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley
road will be completed south of Mormon
Channel and the contractors will be ready
to start on the section between that body
of water and Stockton Channel.
TAYLOR street from Ell Dorado to Edison
streets is now ready for the rails and ties,
and the latter street is graded up to within
500 feet of the channel, where the steel
drawbridge is to be constructed. Work
will be commenced at once on the eastern
end of Taylor street to the city limits.
This will be necessary. as the first track
will probably be laid from the Southern
Pacific Company's line on Sacramento
street, in order to make use of the engines
that are now being put in order on the
siding near the Southern Pacific freight
depot.
All preparations are being made to begin
track-laying as soon as the grading on the
portion south of Mormon Channel is COM
pleted. Track-laYing will probably be
commenced this week, and the contractors
are working with this idea in view. They
now have 165 men at work and Go teams,
and intend to put on more teams this week.
They viii have their contract for the work
south of the channel completed long be-
fore the time specified in their agreement
with the Valley road expires. Their
grade in some parts is quite steep, in many
places being as much as four feet above
the official grade, as Engineer Storey has
determined to prevent the tracks being
flooded in event of high water.
Everything is now ready to commence
driving piles for the trestle across Mormon
Channel, above the present Lincoln street
draw bridge. This work will be pushed to
early completion. Just as soon as Thorn
ton & Co. finish the grading south of the
channel they will begin on the other sec
ton, which they claim can be finished in a
third less time than the other.
There is great deal of filling to be done
along Edison street, but the contractors
are dredging TO secure the necessary earth
for this purpose. One of the contractors
said tonight that this section could be fin
ished easily within two weeks from the
time OF commencement. This portion is
that which connects with the water front
along Stockton Channel, which the direc-
tory of the road claim the Corral Hollow
people are trying to shut them out OF.
This trouble will be obviated by the grant
ing of the 230 feet additional in front of
the sheds of the steamboat company. This
the City Council is now pledged to do.
The contractors who are doing the grad
ing inside OF the city limits intend to put
in a bid for grading the track between
East street and the Stanislaus River, Sec
ton of some twenty-five miles. There is a
great deal of adobe soil along this line and
the sooner the. work is commenced the
easier it will be for the contractors. Alto
gether it is estimated that there will
be about 10000 cubic yards of
earth to move along this twenty
five miles of road. If the men who have
the contract for the inside work are sue
ce8sful they can begin work without an
hours delay, as they have their force
ready to begin. The bids for this portion
to the Stanislaus River will be opened in
San Francisco Oh Monday, and the st ock-
ton people are very anxious that the local
men should be successful. Chief Engineer
Storey and the superintendent of construc-
ton went over this portion of the road
early this week.