El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-10-01

! June Is, 1907 Immediately the por-
! ton Of the plans of these engineers
| that called not for aQueduct excava-
| ton, but for overcoming obstacles, be-
gan 10 materialize They built 225
miles of road and trail one notable
example in the Jawbone division being
hewn for eight miles in solid rock at a
total cost of more than SAC, 1000. They laid
$50 miles Of water mains from springs
far back in the mountains to the line
Of the aqueduct. These systems are
four in number, and with reservoirs at
high elevations insure a copious sup
ply Of pure water for domestic use and
for the mixing of concrete. They
staked the course of a standard gage
steam railroad 125 miles in length
with the expectation that the city
would construct. own, and operate the
line. The Southern Pacific stepped in,
however and in return for the hand
ling of the 100000 tons of aqueduct
freight took the transportation prob
lem off the city's hands. The new road
is completed today from Mojave to
Owens Lake, and by fall will be
operation to the mouth of the Owens
valley. The railroad parallels the
aqueduct as far as this is feasible.
With the questions of water supply
and transportation out of the way
there yet remained the problems of
communication and of power for the
mechanical equipment. The difficulty
in the first instance was disposed of
by the building of copper wire teIe-
phone system from the headquarters
in Los Angeles to the intake ESQ miles
north. From the main line branches
ramify into each of the 100 or more
camps, so that the chief is always in
touch with his engineers.
The energy Of two mountain streams
have been utilized to furnish power.
Three hydro electric power plants gen.
Grating a total of 5000 horsepower
have been erected, and the electric
fluid is carried over high-resistance
transmission wires as far southwark
as Mojave. By this means the three
dredges are driven, many of the power
shovels, all the tunnel equipment, half
dozen machine shops, and a cement
mill, not to mention the lighting of all
the camps. The expense has amounted
to one cent per horsepower per hour.
To have employed steam at the high
cost of fuel, not to- consider the scar
city of water. would have cost ten
times this amount
City Manufacturing Its Material.
In the estimate of materials re-
the principal item Cement is a mix
ture of limestone and certain clays
rightfuly proportional, burned, and
ground to an impalpable powder
Mixed with sand and gravel and water
it forms a concrete that, after being
allowed to set. has the hardness of
rock
Almost midway between the intake
and the outlet of the big watercourse
and on the main line of the Southern
Pacific railroad. the city's engineers
discovered excellent deposits for the
manufacture of cement
No city previous to this time had en-
tered into the cement making business
but Los Angeles, undeterred, purchased
the lands and began the erection of a
plant. Los Angeles today owns the VIII
lage Of Monolith. is the sole employer
of the $50 laborers and skilled artisans
dwelling therein with their families,
and every "a hours ships out along the
aqueduct more than 1000 barrels of ce-
ment. Even at this rate the mill can
not keep pace with the unprecedented
speed of building and recourse is also
had to corporation mills.
In two localities within the aqueduct
zone deposits of tufa or volcanic ash
have been discovered, and grinding
plants have been erected at both points.
The product is mixed with the Mono
18th cement to form a mixture stronger
but closely similar to the material used !
by the Romans in the construction of
their aqueducts 1000 years ago, and
which are doing service to this day.
While this preliminary construction
was in progress Is months rolled |
around. In December, 1908, the Los
Angeles chamber of commerce called i
upon the chief engineer to give a state |
ment of how much of the aqueduct had !
been completed to that date.
LET Me Alone"
Mr.. Mulholland met the committee~of !
this body with some trepidation IT is |
human nature whether in Maine or |
California. for taxpayers to demand re- |
suits, and these Immediately. WELL |
he answered, I'VE have spent about 1
100000 all told, 1 guess, and there |
is perhaps 900 feet of aqueduct built |
Figuring all our expenditures. it has |