Arizona republican., 1911-02-26
MAGNITUDE OF THE
ENGLE DAM PROJECT

having just completed the Roosevelt
ddln 81 the Salt river irrigation proiec
III Arizona, one of the creates
engineering featS Of the age. Uncle San
VIII now turn his attention toward tn,
construction of similar project il
New Mexico. II will be a great reser
voir at Engle, connecting two diversion
dams, one located at Leasbure and tn,
other l20 miles north OF FL Paso. Tex
The Engle reservoir and its diversion
dams are intended To harness the wa.
tiers of the Rio Grande. and 5a of fai
greater magnitude than the famous As.
souan dam on the Eile river in Fgvpt
now reputed the greatest irrigation
project in the world The Enela reser-
voir alone will hold twice as much wa
ter a. the Nile river project, and will
be forty miles in length and reach an
average width of nearly four miles
varying from three to sly miles. In il
win be stored approximately 65O. 600.
900 gallons or 1000. 900 acre feet OF
water. The entire flow of the Rio
| Grande for three years will be required
to ill the reservoir. The cos- OF the
Engle dam Will reach lar more than
Sl0.000 when completed
The construction of the Engle reser-
voir will wipe out five settlements. be-
sides inundating about $50 square miles
of territory in New Mexico. While this
general basin and its two diversion
dams are located in New Mexico. the
lands To be irrigated lie par,l, in New
Mexico, partly in Texas and IartIy in
the Republic of Mexico
The main dam construction work Of
the Ensle reservoir will be 200 feet
in length at its crest and about 20 feet
in thickness. Its greatest height will be
pa feet above the bed of the river Re
enforced concrete will be employed
throughout
Until railroad fifteen miles in
length is built. little work can he done
on the dam. for the reason that most OF
the machinery To be used is too heavy
To he moved up by any other method
than on rails. Moreover. small army
of men must be supplied with the nee
essaries Of life for two or possibly
three years, and this alone would be- "A
great undertaking, should it have To be
done over he ordinary read.
At present $50 men are employed at
Engle. but this force will he augmented |
to about 1000 as soon as work on the /
dam commences in real earnest next /
spring
The construction of the Engle dam /
will involve the following general fea- !
lures: Building of the branch railroad; |
OF plant. quarters and 9th ]
Pr buildings and accessories; building I
IF the main flume and Golfer dams: eX-
,avation OF the sluicing tunnel; eXca- /
gation in the river bed and for the /
lbutments; making and placing the
of the dam; construction Of |
he power station and transmission
ines: building an embankment at the
zap IN the hills northwest of the dam:
buildings. roads. etc
\ large portion of the Engle dam
contract will involve the excavation Of
he river bed and the preparation of
he foundation at a distance OF 90 to
20 feet below the normal river bed
This will not only be hazardous work,
,ut its extent and character can only
'e surmised. The foundation has been
arefully sounded with diamond drills.
tut nevertheless. experience shows
hat unexpected conditions arc likely |
o develop and plans must be changed |
rom time To time in the preparation
t the foundation.
The Rio Grarde project lies in cen
raj and southern New Mexico and
'exas. The source of water supply is
he watershed of the Rio Grande which G
axes its rise i'm central Colorado and
lows southwark toward the middle of
lew Mexico. so far as RI Paso, Texas, 7
here il becomes the boundary between .
le United states and old Mexico, until
empties into the Gulf OF Mexico. The
10 Grande is formed by numerous ,
treams. which flow into it from the .
ign mountains of Colorado and New
Iexico. and the plan is To- construct
.servoir of sufficient size to store all =
T the rainfall of three years on this
asst watershed
In its course the river flows through
rye areas of forests. and in the noun
Tins outlying are rich deposits OF gold
lver copper. lead and coal. Occasion
lv the course of the stream hes
trough wide plains. North of III Paso =
,e valley of the stream is bounded by
lgged mountains. near or remote. and
ere in southern New Mexico and
exas. are the areas which the project
designed To irrigate.
The Leasburg diversion dam already
Is been completed and water has been G
verted into canals by it. since the g
ring of 1908. This water is sufficient p
r about %. 900 acres of Mesilla valley, u
ID $4,000 acres more of that valley are C
rigated by the community plan. The 81
.asburg dam takes the place of two t'
rmer community headings. Above the II
,asburg dam. about 5000 acres OF
neon valley are watered by COM | Il
unity canals. The same system is rS
lployed in FL Paso valley. pl
In regard 10 the interest of the water OF
ers under the Rio Grande project, te
10 will eventually have to pay the fo
liOr part of the cost Of the construc- ST
m of the dam. the time required i'm its
Instruction is n very important item. to
has been cCnservatively estimated al
AZ the value of the Engle reservoir to "
am will be equal to the net profit ii
the use of 100. 900 acres of land now of
Dducine nothing. which the reservoir Ia
II make possible to cultivate. Even i'm
,ugh the whole Of this land would not IN
Immediately put in cultivation. the
ne when il will be all in cultivation ST
Md be brought one year nearer by w
N year saved in constructing the tn
m. The net profit on this land i'm hi
10 NJ 1 l..