Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1903-06-20
COCHITI TUNNEL.
WORK WAS DONE BY INDIANS.

The New Mexican says that John
B Harper. of Durango. Colorado, sup
crintendent of irrigation for the Pu-
eblo Indians, was in Santa Fe yester-
day from the Cochiu pueblo. where
he has about completed the construc-
ton of a tunnel through a high bluff
for the purpose OF tapping the waters
of the Rio Grande to irrigate the
lands Of the pueblo. The bluff In
question comes to an end at the be-
ginning Of the Indians farm land and
they have had an irrigatng ditch at
that point for great many years,
bue were unable to get water at only
its higher stages The ditch could not
be made to cut into the river at n
higher stage because OF the BLUM.
which is parallel with the stream, In
many places projecting over the wa
tiers of the river. About quarter of
a mile above the end OF the lower end
Of the blum the work on tunnel was
commenced last September The tun.
mel runs 100 feet back from the stream
and parallel with the channel OF the
river, II is circular in shape six feet
in diameter and for the last $40 feet
is through solid rock. This was blast.
ed through and at the end of $50 feet
laminated clay was encountered. This
clay ranks with quick sand for danger
and difficulty In this kind OF work
Through the clay the circle was made
larger. 1t was first timbered to pre-
vent caviEg and then the timbers
were removed few feet at time
and the hole lined with an eight inch
coat of concrete which reduced IL to
the uniform diameter.
Work through clay does not prog.
ress with more ease and speed and
less cost than through solid rock, and
Mr.. Harper states that the fact that
the tunnel passed through 200 feet of
clay made the project cost 81 500 more
than IL would have cost had the en-.
tire tunnel been through rock. After
leaving the clay the work was mostly
open through the remaining 600 feet.
but was through solid rock.
At the close OF the work the tunnel
was connected with the Indians
ditch which was reconstructed and put
on to a true grade. II being In many
ways defective as II was first con
structed hundreds of years ago. The
entire work cost the government
about s,iOo of which rs per cent was
expended on the tunnel
The new tunnel makes the waters of
the Rio Grande accessible at all stages
About 1000 acres of fertile land
are watered and irrigated through the
tunnel and ditch. The tunnel. which
Is about three miles above the Cochiti
pueblo, will serve the purpose for
which IL has been constructed for the
next thousand years, Mr.. Harper
states. and will be used this summer.
though a few finishing touches are
necessary 20 put 1t in perfect condi-
ton and this work will he done when
the waters of the Rio Grande. which
are now verw high. recede.
About forty or fifty men have been
employed constantly on the work since
last December, The work was done
by Indians who at the beginning were
thoroughly unskilled and unacquaint-
ed with the use of dynamite. How
ever, thousands OF blasts have been
fired and not a. single accident has
occurred through the explosions or
through the falling of treacherous
roofs.
The tunnel is a quarter Of a milo In
length. while the old ditch that was
reconstructed Is two and half miles
long.