Durango semi-weekly herald., 1903-07-20
NEW ELECTRIC PLANT.

niue luth pi tut UldkhA"o' VI ih'
work planned by the Animas Canal,
Reservoir, Water. Power 4 Invest
snent company. and this can only be
sained by a visit to the territory
sboVe lockwood. In order to become
thoroughly posted concerning tho op'
eraiions and the section covered
representative Of The Herald spent a
couple Of days this week looking over
he ground. In the frat place we de.
sire to correct popular impression
-iha, the great dam is to be con
strIieted In the Animas canon. as ii
great many have asked concerning the
ocailon The power building VIII be
.ocaied on the Animas fow miles
,bOve lockwood otherwise the enter
Drise has little TO do with the stream.
rhe territory covered lies north and
vest Of lockwood The reservoir
site-is six or seyen miles distant from
that point and IL located 10 the right
II the wagon road leading to Silver
ion-ihe old Rico thoroughfarc. being
icparaied from View by low hills.
rhe site embraces the well known
Ptorce ranch of i've hundred acres.
one If 'be Gnest agricultural and graz
ing tratA in the country, In all
amounting TO between 100 and l2-
20 aeres. Al the present lime a
force OF men are at work clearing the
allisides of all timber, Including small
ihfsbbery and underground, 1t IL the
lnten ion 70 cut and burn every Bit
lf wsstc found On The tract, the good
logs being used for timbers and lumber
This 10 Tor the purpose of preserving
he usefulness of the dam and the
aloeRlng a. any time Of the outlets
This item OF itself Is big one and
viii keep big force of men going dur
ms the rest Jf the summer months
rhe location Of The dam Ia a good one
aud Nill be about .S0G feet long with
main structure The temporary dam
wiil imponnd "a billion aBd "a quarter
cubic feet OF wntcr while tho main
Hrueure win impound over four and
4 hhlf billion cubic feet in the reser
yolr being 50 feet deep in places and
probably an average depth of 40 feet
iyar the entire 200 acres The plans
nr the FIRST dam are awaiting the ap'
proyHl of the state engineer and ns
ioon as returned from Denver. work
"a same viii start with Mcssrs Van.
icrgrin aud Lotus contractors.
70 III this reservoir. a nume is he
ing built connecting with Cascade
7rcck. several miles distant Al the
present time a force OF thirty men are
grading the line OF the nume between
The ilamor lakes and the point from
which the water Is taken. a distance
IT three and half miles This work
~ about completed and the sawmilI
people are delivering lumber along
the line aud the flume contractors
have started construction, This
lume viii be an immense affair. built
% permanent basis and viii he com
ileted ready for use this fail The
itch crew will be transferred the
coming week 20 work between the Ha-
NOR lakes ana the site ot the rcser.
yoir 1t is planned TO have this pre-
lminary work completed this season,
including the building Of Il temporary
lam. When We say temporary. II
loes not moan mnkeshlft affair 1t
should be properly called the small
dam to do service until the company
gets under sway A 0ume will hayo
10 bo constructed from the reservoir
TO the brow of the hill leading To the
Animns where a reservoir viii be con.
ltructed with capacity TO run several
hours in case of any obstruction in. the
connecting line From this point to
the Animas whore the power plant
viii be located, ls 900 foet. fall that
win give great power The power
building Is designed in three sections,
ill connected The middle section
viii be constructed this season and
viii be built of stone concrete floors
Material for the building viii soon
be- on the ground when work will
start, although this part OF the work is
not being pushed ns fast as that con.
ncctcd with the reservoir as the
building and machinery can be in
stalled during the winter months
The railroad company will have a
siding within a few days for the han
ding OF material
at NhR lifN'hA Alilt NH'
has something Ike seveuty-fve men
gi wori, in clearing the reservoir and
ditch construction. This number
does not include the lumber ard 9th.
er contractors. In the number are
three sets OF engineers who have been
In the hold several weeks as the mag
nitude uf the work requires great
tmDuut pf latuH work
The anovo viii give our readers
general idea OF what the company is
doing and what It means To this sec
lion The temporary or first dam viii
lmpound sufficient water TO start with
md furnish power to go ahead with
the work as originally planned An
electric tram viii be put In from the
power building to the top of the
mountain to handle the steel pipe or
caissons through which the water will
run In this connection an electric
road viii be built for the purpose OF
handling material Tor the big dam
Chief engineer in charge of the work
Mr. IL II Henderson. says an effort
Is being made 10 secure satisfactory
rates over the Denver 4 Rio Grande
for granite 10 be used in building the
a a -