The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-11-24
FIELD WORK ALL
DONE ON CANAL
GOOD START ON GLENDIvE-BU-
FORD IRRIGATION PROJECT.
Government Will Begin Spending
$1,2O0,O0O in March for the Reclama-
ton of the Lower Yellowstone, Pro-
vided the Water Users Organize-A
Trolley Line Among the Possibilities.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal.
Glendive, Mont, Nov. 24.-F. E.. Weymouth
engineer in charge Of the survey of the irriga-
ton canal which will be constructed by the
government from point fifteen miles below
Glendive to Buford, N. D.. has completed the the
two years, and with his corps of assistants has
gone to Denver, where the reclamation service
has established western office at when tne
North and South Dakota, Wyoming and eastern
Montana will be blocked out. y s. .....tz, T.. =
Mr. Weymouth said that the final plans. and
estimates Of the Glendive-Buford project would
be completed some time in March. Under no
condition will the government ask for bids Tor
construction until a water users association Is
perfected and contract entered into between the
officers of the association and the secretary OF
the interior guaranteeing that those holding 1rri-
gable land under the canal win act as consumers
of the water when the canal is completed.
Since last April corps Of forty men, IN
Guiding those in the office at Newton and those
working in the field have been engaged on the
survey Of the Glendive-Buford canal, whose In
take is fifteen miles below Glendive on the Vel
lowstone river. The weather has been very To-
vorable. not day having been lost, and In con-
sequence the work has been greatly accelerated
sixty-Five Mile Canal. ~
The center line of the canal from the headgate
to the end, distance of siXty-fve miles, has
been located and mapped. Along the canal line,
where the country is rough and broken, 1T has
been mapped on a scale OF 100 feet to the inch,
with two feet contours. Where the country Is
smooth and unbroken the scale has been 4oo 1eet
to the inch and five feet contours. At all creek
crossings and places where special structures
and masonry are required, the canal has been
mapped on a scale Of fifty feet to the inch, with
twO-fect contours.
For the work the government has appropriated
81 200, 900. At the headgate the canal Will be
forty mine feet wide on the top, sixteen feet
wide on the bottom and eleven feet deep, and
will carry $50 cubic feet Of water per second 1t
will decrease in size proportionately to the
J of tn hn from
headgate overflow dam Will be built winch
will raise the water five feet in the Yellowstone
river at low water.
At the headworks borings have been made
and along the entire line of the canal test pits
have been dug and augur holes put down to dis
cover the nature of the material to be moved
Little or no rock encountered and the grounC
was discovered to be favorable for the construc
ton Of the canal. cr.t - e. -
| Surveys were also made of the drainage areas
of all creeks, intersecting the line OF the canal
in order to determine the size of the crossings tt
! be provided. Surveys were also made on tht
outlook for reservoir sites and 1T was found tina
the topography Of the country was not favorable
| for such, few, If any, being found on the lower
part of the v,atercourses, and at the upper par
of the drainage area not being sufficient to war
rant their construction.
In addition to the surveying and mapping O.
the canal, all the land lying under it has beef
! classified, and all the irrigable land mapped OF
scale Of 1000 feet to the inch, with fve-fee
contours.
w.
struction work is begun telephone line will b.
indispensable and in the spring the frs
work will be the erection of a telephone lin
from Glendive to Buford, distance of eight.
miles s-.-'.
/ Cost of Reclamation. -
!; The canal will reclaim the Lower Yel1owston
4 valley, lying party in Montana and partly Y
North Dakota. The climate is only sem1-ar1d
and the soil is regarded as fertile as that o
! any valley in the northwest. ''.:' -. e. -.
| The cost of reclamation will approximate abou
$50 acre, end will be paid for by the settler
in ten annual installrnents, during which tn
canal will be maintained by the government
after which the cost Of repair will be borne b.
the water users association. At all times, how
ever, will the cost of keeping the headworks /
repair be borne by the government
| AS the lower valley lies midway between tn
Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads rh
matter Of the transportation Of the material
to be used In the construction of the canal an
the products of the valley Is q problem ye
to be solved. Engineers incline to the built
ing of an electric railroad to connect the tw
transcoEtnental railroads. Ine1haustible beds {
the best Ignite coal would provide cheap fut
for the generation of power, and such roa
would soon become dividend payer.
Leading business men of Glendive favor fnco
: porating to build the road and company may /
; organized before the close Of the year for ths
DurpOSe.