Arizona republican., 1906-09-03

] the rlNer. rms was done by cutting
 channel thirty feet wide from the cana ] to the river. No headgate was put in
 and the river obligingly turned itself in that direction. HencefOrth there was
 no scarcity of water. but by and by it | looked as though the valley was not only getting plenty of water. but too much. In the course of the next few months the salt works at Salton, on the Southern Pacific railroad. a hundred
 miles to the west. was put out of bus liness. The fall of the Colorado river, between Yuma and the gulf is but one foot to the mile but the fall into the great SaltOn Sink is four times that amount. a little something the Colorado river was not slow in finding out From a harmless looking little nick in the bank of the Colorado that gave the settlers in the Imperial valley plenty of
 water. the whole country was menaced, the Southern Pacific railroad. because of the flooding of it's tracks, being among the greatest sufferers. In the
 meantime the Intake" as the river mouth of the canal was called, had
 widened and deepened to many times
 it's original size. All efforts to close it failed notwithstanding vast sums of
 money was spent in that direction.
 Engineers consulted. planned and spent
 money but failure was written on
 every effort to close the gap From
 thirty feet to a half mile in width was
 but the work of a season: the old
 channel of the river was left high and
 dry to the gulf. During the annual
 freshets as much as 115.OOO second feet
 was poured into the sink and property
 to the value of about Sl5.0O0.OO0 was
 threatened with destruction. ThE
 brought the Southern Pacific to the as- sistance of the company. When one plan failed another was tried. The great trouble lay in the fact that the Colorado river was bOttomless. Engi- neers could find nothing but shifting
 sands to tie to. An effort was made ito make bottom" and over 300 acres of willow brush was cut and woven in to great mats for the purpose. Piles were driven through them to hold them in place, and they were weighted down with tens of thousands of bags of sand but an unlocked for rise in the river took out S20O. 900 worth of work in one night and left the situation worse than before. This failure prac- tically brought the Southern Pacific in control. and as their representative, Col. Epes Randolph. came on the scene, and under him the present million dol
 
 was matured. In this plan there has been a good many fingers in the pie but crystalized under one head it promises we'll
 About four miles south of the boundary line. and about a half mile southwest of the old channel a head gate. two hundred feet wide has been put in. This headgate was designed and constructed under the supervision Of MT. C. R. Redwood. at one time general manager, but now consulting engineer of the company. Upon this headgate the success or failure of the present plan will in a large measure depend About 200 yards from the river or intake bank, ., great pit was eXcavated, and piles driven to a depth of 60 feet from the bottom of the pit and upon these the headgate was put in. It was originally sunk ten feet be- low the bottom of the river A channel has been partially cut from the river to it. and from it to the river. This or bypass. a S it is called. will be semi circular in shape and will again enter the river about 800 yards below the point of entrance. When a minimum flow of water has been reached by the river. say in September, 1 an effort will be made to turn the en- tire flow through this gate. If success ! full it will leave the channel of the i river practically dry between the two l points of this semi circular bypass, 1 and it is across this dry channel the ! turning dam is to be put in. When 1 this has been done the headgate will | be gradually closed and the level of the | water raised sufficiently high to send | 1t down the old channel to the gulf At | this time the bottom of the present ! river channel is about 20 or 22 feet be- l low the bottom of the old channel l This fact alone will give one an idea |. If the stupendous task the company ! las before it. That they are alive to . he situation is evidenced by the prep lrations made to met it. railroad . IA miles in length has been built from i Pilot Knob. on the Southern Pacific. to | he contemplated heading Spurs are ! being put in leading to great quarries l If stone and clay now being opened up. ! Two steam shOvels are already on the 1 ground and 100 car loads of rock and ! day can be delivered at the intake l every A hours if necessary. A week . ago 5000 tons of rock had already been | broken down and was ready for ship nent
 For nearly a month the company nave been at work mating the river. . Most of the work has been done on the south side, but the intention of the is to confine the river in ,hannel 500 feet wide. Two rows of |