The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-21

by telephone from Camp Quinton In the wasatch mountains, Utah. and flashed by wire today to the reclamation ser vice here. It marked the completion of the Strawberry tunnel. one of the largest and most difficult pieces of engineering work the reclamation ser vice has been called upon to undertake.
 Second Largest in World
 With one exception this underground waterway tunnel Is the largest In the world. Many hard engineering prob- lens had to be overcome in planning 1t; and great physical endurance was re- quired of the men who carried out the work.
 The tunnel pierces the solid rock of one of the highest peaks of the Wasatcn mountains at a point where those eter- nal hills are more than 10000 feet through. It will move good sized stream the Strawberry river, from one drainage basin to another, 45 miles away only 2000 feet below the snow capped crest of the mountains the tun- nei has pierced it's rocky way.
 To the south and east of Utah Lake
 
 the west, are 60, 900 acres of exceedingly fertile land now only partially pro ductive for lack of water To trans form this valley to a rural settlement, dotted with thriving towns and villages and barred with long rows of fruit trees the government engineers have overcome almost unheard of obstacles.
 Beyond the Wasatch range which rims the valleys eastern border Straw berry river, for centuries bank full, per haps. has run uselessly by, it's waters finally reaching the Gulf of California through the Colorado river. To divert this water from the Colorado drainage basin and turn 1t into the Utah valley the enormous Strawberry tunnel, near z ly four miles long, has been bored through the Wasatch mountains. It's cross section measures more than SO square feet. It is walled and buttressed with timber and lined with cement
 Before construction could begin, thousands of square miles of valley and rough mountain country were sur veyed and mapped, and tunnel and ca nal lines marked out. telephone line sS miles long, extending from Spanish Fork to both portals of the tunnel was constructed. and a wagon road from Diamond Switch, the ship ping point on the Denver and Rio Grande railroad, to both potrals g miles long. was made. Down in the foothills a diversion dam was thrown across Spanish Fork river and the waters turned into a power canal 3h miles long, which dropped them through huge pipes on the big turbines 100 feet below Power thus generated was transmitted electrically to the tunnel site, where it was used to turn the da- mond drills In the rock, light the camps and run the heavy machinery. The h tn in valley for municipal and commercial purposes
 Camps at High Altitude
 The camps are located a mile and a half above sea level, and during sev- eral months each winter have practical ly been isolated from the world, the roads blocked by masses of snow and ice. For more than two years the work has gone on without teasing, three shifts of men alternating during the 24 hours of the day and night. Thou sands of gallons of water. poisonous gases, and swelling ground have made the work difficult and dangerous. The men fled for their lives on several oc- cesions.
 In 1910 the work of placing the con crete lining was begun and since has been carried on simultaneously with the excavation of the heading. This required skillful handling of men and material to avoid delay in either fea- ture of the work. Notwithstanding the difficulties of the undertaking it has been carried to completion without the loss of a single life
 Beyond the tunnel, in the shadow of the granite peaks, great reservoir Is being built. retaining dam of rock, cement and steel is being built so deep that six story building might be hid- den behind it. Fed by melting snows the waters will rise behind this struc- ture. covering s200 acres with 27s,0Oo acre feet of water
 The valley to be irrigated is especial lv interesting because it is the scene of the earliest irrigation by Anglo Saxons in the west. Settled by Brigham Young and his followers in 1S47. after their march through more than thou sand miles of unknown territory. peo- : pied by savages. 1t is the oldest exam ple of community farming by an Eng fish speaking people in the west. For protection against the Indians the farm CTS lived in little towns throughout the valley their houses built close together and facing common street or square,