Arizona republican., 1908-11-07
CONCRETE BRIDGES
 ACROSS THE CANALS
THE SORT OF WORK THE REcLA-
 NATION SERVICE IS DOING.
Santa Fe Will Build a Steel Bridge Over the Grand Canal-Both Perma
 hence and Beauty Are Sought For.

Few residents of this valley have an intimate knowledge of the extent or thoroughness of the work the re- clamation service is doing in its re- modelling of the canal system. A full appreciation of it will not be had per haps until another generation comes on the scene. for the work is being done thoroughly and as near for all time as any industrial plan may be laid. As most people know, some new canals and laterals are being dug. old ones being strengthened. and particu- larly the Grand has been widened and deepened This means more bridges and new bridges where old ones are being torn out in the widening of the Grand. It is expected this old ditch will still be doing business at the same old stand a hundred, perhaps five hundred years from now. whlch means the same thing as eternity to this generation It is the idea of MT. Hill. the supervising engineer. that every stroke of work that is possible and that has to be done now shall be done with the idea of never having to do it over again.
 To that end MT. Hill had ordered that all the canal bridge foundations should be laid with concrete, and with steel girders. On these girders it was planned to lay the usual plank cover ing. but it seemed to the engineers that, while they were already laying the foundation in concrete the rest of the bridge could be more quickly and cheaply finished in reinforced con- crete than it could again for a long time, if ever The only trouble Is that it makes the initial cost great deal more At the latest meeting of the board of governors of the Water Users association this matter was laid before the board by representa- tives of the reclamation service and duly considered. The board feels about it just as the engineers, and if the supply of money was not limited somewhere, would have ordered that everything be built of concrete where it is desirable However, a compro- mise was affected by instructing MT. Hill to use his judgment. and the larger bridges that are most certainly permanent, to build as he desires, the smaller ones or those that may possi- bly be changed some day, to be built as at first planned.
 The character of the work being done is also indicated when the state ment is made that every bridge, great or small. is being built so it will sus- tain a weight of 10000 pounds or more This is to provide against the day of heavy machinery in farm cul- tivation, a day already dawning, for during the past season a half-dozen big traction engines have been hung up by the giving away of one bridge or another on the county roads. There will be nothing of this kind when the concrete bridges are in evidence. And some day when all these plans have matured and the farmers have caught up with the plans of the government for building up and beautifying the country, when they have planted trees and worked the roads along their ranches. every country lane in this valley will be a boulevard well worth riding over.
 It is announced that Mir. Hill has already arranged with the $. F. P. & P. Railroad company for the erection of a steel bridge where it crosses the Grand canal alongside of Grand ave nue. The bridge over the Grand on Central avenue. that being q boule- ward. will be a very wide one, though whether it will be the full width of the boulevard has not been announced