Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-07-15
ELEPHANT BUTTE DAM
Greatest Irrigation Project in tn
World on the Rio Grande.

Greatest Irrigation Project in the
World on the Rio Grande.
Lest we forget it is necessary once In
a while to repeat that the United States
government is building at Elephant
Butte, N. M, on the Rio Grande, the
greatest irrigation project in the world
The Assuan dam on the Nile, in Egypt
Is not to be compared with 1t. 1t Is to
cost s10,000,000, and vast territory both
in the United States and in Mexico will
get the waters for irrigation.
Five times bigger than the Mill
building at New York, 100 feet higher
and with a storage capacity which
would cover the state Of Delaware
with two feet of water, was Project
Engineer L. M. Lawson's comparative
picture Of the Elephant Butte DAM
which he gave at the chamber of COM
merce luncheon last week.
Mr.. Lawson said the dam would form
a lake forty-one miles long and six
miles wide, and the main canal would
be one Of the largest in the world. He
said that the work was being done as
rapidly and economically as possible,
and that the foundation would be COM
pleted within a few days, when the
dam proper would be started.
Under date Of Elephant Butte, E. H.
Balwin, consulting engineer, writes as
follows: During the latter part Of April
the grab buckets which had been exca-
waiting about 1900 cubic yards Of sand
and gravel per day on the dam site,
were removed from cableways and
skips substituted in order to help out
the derricks, which were handling
powders and loose rock on a section
near the fiume, the desire being to pre-
pare an area Of the foundation about
200 feet square, adjacent to the fiume
section, for masonry, so that concreting
could be going on while the balance Of
excavation was being completed, thus
enabling larger force to be employed
and consequently hasten the work.
The material excavated during the
past month has been mainly powders,
loose rock interlaid with broken shale
and clay, and some thin layers Of hard
sandstone, the most Of which required
blasting, but deposits near sound bed
rock had to be carefully handled, much
Of 1t loosened with picks and wedges
in order to avoid cracking the founda-
ton. This, of course, has been tedious
work, the volume excavated daily was
small as compared with the output
when handling sand and gravel There
was also more Of this to remove than
expected, as the surface Of the bed
drill borings, was in many places shat
rock, though corresponding exactly
with the location shown by diamond
drilled borings. was in many places
shattered and had to be removed to a
greater depth than anticipated.
In several places the excavation is
now at a depth Of 80 feet below the
lowest point of the old river bed and
areas Of bedrock thus far exposed in
dicate an excellent foundation, the
rock dipping at such an angle as to
afford the best possible protection
against sliding and presenting a very
uneven surface which Is very desir-
able for the same reason. With the
exception Of a narrow strip at both
heel and toe of the dam, work on which
was hitherto not possible on account Of
the position Of the derricks and water
pipe lines, this area Is about ready for
but in order to carry the
work most economically no concrete
will be placed until the above mention
ed areas are ready.
Labor conditions have been some
what unsatisfactory Of late, but steps
have been taken to supplement the