The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1920-02-05
.TEEL CANAL AND TUNNEL
IS BIG ENGINEERING JOB

THE following story Of the Ieel
District work IS taken from the En-
cheering NaVs-Ge.dr5 OF January
10TH tt gives some interesting facts
regarding the ems ueeriug features
ut The work. Since the article was
written there las been about Two
miles OF ditch completed so that the
total ditch work at this time is three
miles.
Progress on tie . Ia mile tunnel
for the Teel Irrigation District Ia
UmaulIa County. oregon, has reach
ed Is feet per heading per day. The
tunnel viii diver, water from the
John Day watershed 10 tAat Of the
UmauIla river. It VIII be fed by a
l. mile collecting canal, tapping Ca
mas. Hidaway and Gable ceeks.
From tae tunnel the water will doN
through tie natural channel Of But
ter Greek for 80 miles TO a point
where il will be diverted and dis
trlbuted. The lands 10 be irrigated
lie at an elevation Of Geo to SOC feet
above sea level, il the vicinity Of
Echo.
In addition TO the tunnel and main
canal there will be diversion dams,
sidehill fumes, trestle fumes, inver-
ted siphons, concrete drops and
chutes. cement lined bitches, and
other special construction works. A
sawmill plant with a daily capacity
of 10000 feet has been installed on
Camas creek.
The tunnel is 1881 feet long, S
feet wide and : feet high in the
clear, with an arched roof. Its grade
is 05 per cent and the greatest
depth below the surface is 640 feet.
At each end is a plant with l90 h. p.
boilers and engines driving 10X12
compressors. a 50-inch fan drives
the smoke and foul air from the face
Of the tunnel through an 1S-inch
pipe. so that the muckers are usual
ly at work in from s to . minutes
after a blast has been fired.
At each tunnel face are two air
drills mounted side by side on a hor-
ozontal bar. Three S-hour shifts
are worked at each end of the tun-
mel, with two drilIers and three
muckers. They average sir feet per
shift or IS feet per day. except that
where timbering is required the pro-
gress is from 10 TO y feet per day.
The rock is basalt, more or less bro
ken at the beginning but becoming
harder as the work progresses.
About II miles of excavation will
be required On the main canal, about
n mile OF this being in solid rock,
and the remainder in a heavy black
clayey loan. The bottom width is
25 feet with side slopes Of l on /.
This excavation is being done at the
rate of about 1000 cubic yards per
day by a caterpillar mounted steam
shovel, having a l IL yard bucket.
About a mile Of canal has been ex-
cavated by the middle of November.
The diversion dam is of timber,
rock and earth, 1875 feet long, with
an overflow crest or spillway 155
feet long. An abutment connects it
with the wall Of the canyon at the
east end while a combination head
gate and abutment connects it with
the canal at the west end. There are
four controlling gates in the dam.
Construction work was started
about September /. 1t is expected
that excavation will be continued
during the winter, but the fumes
and trestles will not be started until
spring. the main canal being at an
elevation Of about $500 feet. W. B.
Hinkle, consulting engineer, of Echo
Oregon, is engineer in chief for the
Teel Irrigation District.-Echo News.