El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-01-22

II ELEPHANT BUTTE, n. ", Jan.
22-It is the popular idea that
- to build dam all that IS re.
quired is to start laying concrete and
@stav with it" until 1t Is completed.
This is the ideal way no worry about
sliding, cracking, leaking or turning
over, and it is sad to note that some
IN Just that way
At Elephant Butte the work has fallen
under II general headings:
Preliminary
Roads
s-Cofferdams and river diversion.
4-Excavation for the foundations
5-Masonry Of the dam proper.
6.-Gates and sideways
7-Spillway-
S-Earth embankment
s.@Real estate
1O=Construction OF plant.
Reconstruction Of camp
You will note that No. covers the
general question Of concrete, but II IS
only. one item. Of many, and 1t can
even begin until Nos. !, ?, ), 4, 2, 10, ana
part at least OF IL, have been COM
pIeted
The preliminary work consisted Of
the exploring and mapping OF the sur
rounding country, also the diamond
drilling that was done to discover, II
sary to dig before good foundation
could be expected. At this site 81 holes
were put down-a total depth OF zl6O
feet-and based on these REGARDS II
was exp cted that the founoatlon N
the deepest place would not exceed
so feet below the surface However,
the deepest place was 1O1 feet below
the old river bed
Actual work was started in 1910 with
the construction Of the railroad and
FEBRUARY
1911 the first work was done on the
flume to divert the river from its OLD
bed The river was put through TINS
nume in November Of 1872, after zOO,-
coo cubic yards Of earth had been
moved 80, eco cubic yards OF masonry
and 10000 board feet Of lumber had
been placed to form it OF the $4,000
cubac yards OF masonry, 25,5OO cubic
yards are a part Of the main dam
Excavatfng For the Dam
Excavation for the dam started in /
November Of 1912 and the first con-
crete placed was in June OF 1913 In
stalation OF the gates started IN De
Day of 1914 and was completed IN De- I
Gambler Of that year. The 1lume was |
closed and the river forced into It's |
old channel and through the gates on |
January 6, 1915. Water came through |
the gates and the Elephant Butte reser- /
vOir was an accomplished lacl On jan
uary Z, 1915.
no give an idea OF the magnitude OF /
the items IN general, description IS
given Of the earth embankment-Item /
No. s shown above
It is a medium-sized earth dam con-
structed across a depression in the hills
about one and one-fourth miles north
west of the main dam, 1900 1eet long on
the crest, maximum height 48 feet, and I
contains nearly 10000 cubic yards OF
earth and rock I'LL The earth was
excaTated from borrow pits by small !
steam shovel and hauled from there /
TO the dyke in bottom-dump wagons. /
The rock was quarried from the noun
tain side and carried TO place by dump /
carts
The upstream and downstream faces
Of the fill are protected against wave
action by blankets OF heavy rock placed
by hand like stone pavement in q city
The material placed was $4,000 cubic
Yards of earth, $4,000 cubic yards OF
rock. $4,000 cubic yards OF pavement
5000 cubic yards Of crushed rock under
he pavement ana zoo cubic yards OF
road surfacing on top OF the finished
dyke, which was completed June 80, /
1913. Since a wagon load Of rock or
earth is approximately one cubic yard
Ii would have required 164,1OO trips
With one team TO have completed the
work The average distance the ma
erial had to be hauled was about 1900
-eet or three-fifth Of a mile per round |
rip. One team hauling this material
would have Travelled 100000 miles. 4
cam on this rock viii average about
20 miles per day. The time required
Tor one team working day in and day
put would be about 13z years
The first masonry in the dam proper
was placed in June, 1913. $500 cubic
Yards were placed in the 1lume block
IN 1912.
Placing the Concrete.
There We're in place on the dates
shown the following amounts Of con-
irete:
HHEE m