Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-10-16
RECLAMATION SERVICE
WILL BUILD A CANAL
AN ARTIFICIAL RIVER is SOON TO
Be BUILT.
DR.. J. c. Norton of Phoenix Among the
Larger Bidders.

Now that work is proceeding so
well on the construction of the 81
phon under the Colorado river at Yu-
ma, the reclamation service has de-
cided to proceed with the building OF
the big canal on the west side of the
river. that is to bring the water di
verted at the Laguna dam. to the ST
phon head across the river from Yu-
ma. About two miles of this canal was
eXcavated sometime ago. at the Yuma
end, and about a mile of it at the La
guna end. leaving about nine miles of it.
or $4,000 feet. yet To be eXcavated. The
reclamation service received bids for
this work a few days ago. and have
forwarded them to Washington for
consideration and later award.
The canal when constructed will be
an artificial river of pretty decent size
as it will be 50 feet wide at the bot
tom. 125 feet wide on top. and 10 feet
deep. the water having a depth of
seven feet The excavation will re-
quire the removal Of 1900. 600 cubic
yards of dirt The terms of the con
tracts are to read that the work must
be finished by April l next year. ana
it is estimated that To accomplish it in
that time about 1900 mules will b, kept
busy
For the convenience Of bidders the
work was cut up into six sections of
900 feet each. Bidders could bid on
particular sections or on several sec
tions or on the entire job as they might
elect. There were fourteen bidders. Of
whom four bid on the entire Job. the
others on one or more sections. The
bids were by sections so that one who
bid on the entire jub. failing might
secure one or more sections The four
terms of their bids. were as follows:
The Occidental Construction co. Of
Los Angeles had the highest bid the
average for all six sections being 81 1-2
cents per ward for dirt or a total OF
S4O6 900
Ramey Brothers Construction co OF
oklahoma. 242i cents per yard. or a
total Of S321O
Shattuck & Ettinger bid an average
of 24i2 cents per yard. or total OF
S31S5O0
DR.. J. c. Norton Of Phoenix. 22.6
cents per yard, or total Of 1924 900.
The other contractors who did one
or more sections. were as a rule. low
er per cubic yard, than those who bid
on the entire job and it is quite prob
able that they win get most Of the
work to do; that is that the awards
will be made by section and that the
larger bidders can secure only such
sections as they bid low on
An explanation Of the high bids of
the larger contractors is found in the
scarcity Of mules and the haste with
which the work must be done Mules
are scarce throughout the west gem
orally. Those contractors who have
1900 Of them or more at their COM
mand have some work on hand aIrea-
dy. If they had not it would be ex-
pensive assembling such big con-
struCtion camps and Transporting such
an army Of mules to the scene Of oper-
ations. for SO short a job. If they were
to be employed for a year or so they
could afford to do the work a great
deal cheaper. on the other hand the
small contractors who chance to have
mules enough available and near At
hand. To get away with one or two
sections Of the work in the time spcci-
fled. can make good money at lower
rates than the big contractors.