The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1905-09-08
ICHAS, SPEAR
Low BIDDER
BILLINGS MAN STANDS BEST
SHOW FOR CONTRACT.
GREAT CORBETT TUNNEL
His Bid Was $5e4,325-competed
With Contractors From All
Over Country.
From Thursdays Daily.

From Thursdays Daily.
The official report from the Office of
H. N. Savage, supervising engineer,
in whose office bids were opened yes
terday for the construction of the Cor
bett tunnel, an integral part of the
Shoshone reclamation project, shows
that Charles Spear of Billings was
the lowest bidder.
There were five bids on file in Mr..
tSavage's office when the hour for
opening arrived. The bids were open
ed by A. J. Wiley, consulting engin-
ere, H. N. Savage, supervising engin-
eer, Jeremiah Ahern, district engin-
eer, and Charles P. Williams, engin-
eef. The work bid on was as follows:
Tunnel, including lining, $4,000 linear
feet. Open cut excavation, $4,000 Gu
bic yards. Dry rock paving in place,
500 cubic yards. Gravel filling under
rock paving, ESQ cubic yards. Con-
crete in portals, 400 cubic yards Plac-
ing material in embankment, 10000
cubic yards. Sluicing tunnel, lined,
ESQ lineal feet. Shaft, pipe, gate and
gate houses on sluicing tunnel. The
bids we're as follows:
Charles Spear, Billings, $594,325.
J. G. White & Co.. New York, $780,
$50.
Patrick Mcdonnell Duluth, Mimi,
$620,050.
w. G. Bradbury, Denver, Col, $780,
$3.50.
Rod D. Leggate, Butte, Mont, $780,
| IT'S.
Of the total of Mr.. Spears bid
| the far greater amount thereof was
| for the construction of the tunnel,
| which, as stated, is $4,000 linear feet.
On this part of the work alone his
bid was 1851 ,000 The one remarka-
bile feature of the bidding is that the
next man to Mr.. Spear was less than
| $4,000 under him. Between the high
and low man there is a difference of
nearly 100000.
AS in the case of the bids on the
| Shoshone dam, the engineers will send
all bids to Washington, D. c., accom-
| panied by their recommendations,
and they will Ibe acted upon by the
| secretary of the interior and the con-
tract awarded within the next 80 days.
possibly.
The two contracts which bids were
opened on in the past two days will
amount to ovel $1,100000, if the low
bids are accepted. The bidding had
the effect of bringing men to this city
from all parts of the United States,
and the advantages of having the
| H. o,,+o ri k.nT
vicse here was apparent to anyone
who takes time to observe such mat
| ters.
The Great Dam.
The Shoshone dam. which is to. be
located in the great CANYON of the
river of that name, better known to
old timers as the Sinking Water, will
be about six miles ives tof Cody, in a
portion of the canyon where its wallis
are ], 400 feet in height Speaking of
it in a recent interview, Mr.. Savage
said: "The dam will control the en-
tire flow of the Shoshone river and
will have a storage capaciay of 420,-
600 acre feet. AS stated, it will regu-
late the entire run of the river which
amounts to from 100000 to 100000
acre feet per annum. An acre foot of
water is that quantity of water re
quired to cover an acre of land 12
/ inches in depth The rum of the Sho-
shone river regulated by the dam will
ibe sufficient to cover 100000 acres
four feet in depth which is equivalent
ito 48 inches of rainfall during the ir-
rigating season. Or it is sufficient to
give 100000 acres 36 inches of water
during the irrigating season.
Compared With Other Reservoirs.
''Some comparisons between the
/ great water reservoir that this dam
will create and some of the others
that have heretofore been made in
this country might be of interest and
give the people of this section some
idea of it's magnitude. The new Gro
ton dam, which has been under con-
struction in New York for about nine
years, will, when completed, store not
quite one-fourth as much water as
the Shoshone dam. The great Wall
chusetts dam, for the Metropolitan
water works of the city of Boston and
it's suburban towns, villages and cit
les, is iby far the largest in the United
States. 1t is twice as large as the Gro"
ton and at the same time it is only
one-half as large as the Shoshone res
erYOiro