The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-23
BIG DITCH
COMPLETED.
Success Of a Mammoth
Undertaking.
TWENTY-FIVE MILES LONG
Last Touches to Hawaiian Com
mercial and Sugar COM
pany'S Plant.

PAIA, Maui, July Bone of the iarg-
est engineering undertakings ever at
tempted on this Island is now almost
completed. The new Irrigation ditch for
the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co.
will be finished in uie course of few
days and il may be of interest TO the pub
lie to give few facts concerning it,
At the time that the control of the Ha-
waiian Commercial and Sugar Co. chang
ed hands. order had been placed with
the firm of Fraser & Chalmers 10 fur
nish the plantation with four large pumps
each having a capacity of 100000 gallons
in twenty-four hours. The idea being to
land lying between the level of the old
itch usO feeD and upper boundary of the
state about 475 feet above sea level. to
force the water by means of pumps to
the higher elevations and allow the old
ditch to irrigate the lower lands.
The new management deemed ii the
yisest plan to reverse the proposition and
pump the water on the lower land and
dig a new ditch which would bring the
water out on the 45O foot level The rea-
son for this change was that by so doing
many thousands of dollars would be
saved to the plantation by reducing the
cost of pumping For five or six months
of the year there VIII be ample water to
I'll both bitches, in which case the pumps
can be shut down entirely and again
whenever there is an extra heavy rain
fall in the mountains both bitches Will
be filed and the water carried TO reser-
voirs. In which event the pumps can be
closed down for a time.
The contract for constructing the ditch
was let to Carl Jensen, who is we'll and
favorably known in his line of business,
having at that time just. completed an ex-
tcnsive contract on the Oahu Railroad.
Associated with him was II. A. Jaeger
who had just completed a contract for
making a section of the Pail road. Work
vas commenced at once and force OF
between four and five hundred laborers
were employed.
The ditch is over twenty-four miles in
length. starting at Kailua, q point well ur
the woods on the rainy side of the ISL
and, and slowly winding its way down
now through thickets OF guava or louhala
trees. then along the side OF deep gul ct
I'll suddenly II seems to disappear alto.
gether in the side Of the gulch. only tC
freak out again on the opposite side Of
the hill. And thus through tunnel, flume:
and wrought iron pipe slphons it find!
Is way to the cane fields below.
one has but TO go over the line to realize
what an undertaking il is. There are IL
all some seventy-four tunnels. varying IL
length from 80 feet to 1900 feet, ant
amounting TO a total of 30,7O7 feet, Of
nearly four miles. The work I'm some O
these tunnels was extremely dangerou
on account of the falling slabs Of ella.
and decaycd rock from the top Of TN
tunnel, and for that reason il was foun'
Necessary 70 timber. Most Of the lon
tunnels develop water and some are 5
moist that one gets soaked in passing
through.
There are several deep gulches acros
the line Of the ditch. most notable @
which are the Halehaku and Malik
gulches. The water Is carried over thes
by means Of a wrought iron pipe forty
four inches in diameter which lays al
most perpendicularly up and down tn
sides of the gulch. The pipe is in realit
a sphon, the opposite end being lowe
than whore the water enters.
The smaller Eulches are SPAWNED h
means OF an immense flume six feet wit
by four feet Ceep. This ditch Will CO.
the plantation in the ne.ghborhood
$4,000. and viii includes besides 100 l
feet OF ditch proper, 90 707 feet of tunnel
0c0 feet Of 4i-inch wrought iron pipe al
1000 feet or fumes 1t will, at its norm
capacity. carry to the canefields 6O.000.C
gallons of water every twenty-four hou
and at an expense which, outside of Il
interest on the original Investment, W
be extremely light.
Jensen and Jaeger have both had tho
hands full owing to the large number
n sections OF ditch which were being wor
j ed at the same time. and they deser
much credit for the rapid, thorough a
workmanlike manner in which they col
- pleted the ditch. IL is understood tn
while giving satisfaction. they have be
able also to do very well for themselv
on the contract.