The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-08-14
COUNTY DREDGE
A SUCCESS
Now Doing First Work in Naches
River Where Current Threat
ened Bridge
ROCK IS BEING USED FOR
FILLING BOTTOM ROAD
Three Quarters Of Mile to Be I'm
proved-Work Progressing on
Wenas Road Out of Town of
Selah

For the first time since its pur-
chase the county dredge is being put
to practical test, and is doing double
duty, Strengthening the channel of the
Naches river at the Naches City
bridge, and furnishing material for the
filling and improvement of nearly a
mile of road across the Naches bot
tom.
Operation of the dredge was begun
last Monday, above the bridge. where
an obstruction had caused the build
ing of an immense sand bar which
divided the river current and might,
in case. of flood, cause the loss of
the bridge. The divided current has
been swung against both approaches
of the bridge and has been cutting
deeper all the time.
With a crew of six men, the dredge
is now cutting channel, which will
run about 500 feet straight through
the middle of the bar, and directly
under the bridge Only a narrow
rent itself is expected to help in the
cutting when the water is once turned
into its new channel.
Filling Mile of Road
The material taken out by the big
drag, with a yard and half capacity,
is being dumped into wagons, and
hauled at once onto the road across
the bottoms, which furnishes the only
outlet for a large number of settlers
in the new Tiefon countrv
The road is about three quarters Of
a mile long, from Naches City to the
hill on the south side Of the valley.
where, 1T connects with grade nearly
"a mile long to the top of the hill,
which was built for the Tieton people
last year The coarse rock is being
dumped on the road in sufficient
quantity to make heavy fill clear
across. When this is completed the
crusher will be set up right at the
river, and the drag will prepare coarse
crushed rock and finally fine screen
ings for the top coat
Doing Fine Work
According to County Commissioner
James Lancaster, who has been in
specting the work of the dredge. it is
GRAFTON. UP to Wednesday three
teams have been hauling away the
rock, but more were put to work
Wednesday, and from now on ten will
be kept busy hauling away the stuff
and dumping it on the roads. Each
team has SO far been hauling 20 loads
day, but as the haul becomes longer
this will be decreased somewhat. o9ns
Will Improve Other Roads
In accordance with an agreement
made by residents of .Naches at
meeting held there recently with the
county commissioners and county eng
ineer, Mr.. Lancaster is preparing, as
soon as the county finishes With the
bottom road, to furnish crushed rock
for the Improvement of other roads
leading out of Naches City. The resi-
dents agreed to haul rock and If the
county would crush it and build the
roads and Mr.. Lancaster says the rock
will be furnished as long as they are
willing to haul 1t.
Completing Selah Road
The work of making base for the
asphalt macadam on a mile and half
of the Wenas road out of Selah is
nearly completed, according to Mr..
Lancaster, and within a short time the
spreading of the asphalt and the top
dressing, furnished from the state
quarry in the gap, will begin.
With the big steam hauling outfit,
which carries "a yards at one trip,
making five trips day, Mr.. Ian
caster says the road will he one of
the most .cheaply constructed pieces
yet done in the county
Material is being taken from the
county quarry, and consists of cement
gravel So hard is the gravel that it
is necessary to keep six powder men
at work constantly, working in three
shifts, blasting loose the stuff. When
it is loosened, drag with three
quarters of yard capacity pulls down
the chunks to the crusher, where they
are crushed to size and dropped into
the bunkers.
The machinery, which belongs to
the district, is all electrically operated,
and requires little attention. Aside
from the powder men, two men oper-
ate the drag and crusher, and the
steam hauling train, at an estimated
cost of about $40 a day for putting
the rock on the road.
Making Thick Base
On account of the cheapness of the
material laid down, the base for the
asphalt is being made thicker than
it has been in any other piece of
road in the county. The average
thickness of the layer of cement
gravel being laid on the grade is near
ly IL inches. On top of this will be
put a layer of pure asphalt, into
which will be rolled finishing layer
of fine screened rock. furnished from
the state quarry.
Machine Hauling Cheaper
In order to keep the crusher op-
Grating at capacity it was found nee
essary to put on a number of teams
in addition to the steam train to haul
away the crushed rock In doing this
| it was found that the average cost of
placing the rock on the road with the
steam engine and dump cars was
about one-third the cost of hauling il
and placing it with horses and wagons.