The Holly chieftain., 1923-08-02
PRo0nxss ON THE DRAINAGE
DITCH

mitted to observe the progress
made since the beginning of ditch
construction. Crews are working
tom both ends of the ditch but it
&Aa'the east end we visited last
Friday. Making our way over swami
py and treacherous roads we were
able. with some plowing on foot
through the mud, to reach the point
where the big dredger was at work
Here crew of men are at work,
day and night with two shifts, scoop
ing out the hugh ditch. A similar
proceeding is taking place at the
west end Of the ditch.
Two miles of the east drag line
has been completed with, full sect
ion and st full depth The un-
usual rains this spring and breaks
in the Buffalo Canal have inter
ferred with, but never stopped, the
work OF construction The dred-
ger, under the direction of the Say
lor Construction Co, scoops out 500
to 500 cubic yards every twelve
hours, progress depending ON the
character OF the soil encountesed
AS the scoop reaches the bottom
cf the excavation, sand and gravel
are invariably encountered, making
work slower, but providing fine
firm bed for the bottom of the dit.
81. The dredger works backward
running on wooden mats over the
swampy ground, throwing the dirt
to. either side as it progresses
When the dretlger reached the rail
road bridge over Cheyenne Creek
Il was necessary for it to make a
wide detour to cross the track so
as to continue the ditch on the west
side OF the bridge 1t was at this
point that lateral was built to
carry the excess water of the creek.
which spreads out here over the
ConoverC Garfield place, around thr-
ough the swamp land paralleling
the main ditch. At the time of
our visit, Just after the heavy rains
OF Thursday night veritable water
tall was plunging into the ditch
at the railroad bridge, in addition
to the bank-full lateral, proving
the wisdom OF the lateral constrnc-
tiOn. Though torrents of water
from the creek and low lands were
pouring into the new ditch, no ap-
preciable amount of earth was be-
ing washed into the ditch. How.
ever, flume is to be built to carry
the creek water across the ditch
into the canal below for irrigation
purposes; so as not waste this life
giving fluid into the drainage ditch.
Jacob Rohrfg Is in charge of the
construction OF all necessary bridg-
es, fumes, and such like structures.
The point reached by the dredge
at the time of our visit was little
to the west of the swafford Slough
While there Is no direct line. of ex.
cavetion yet made from the swamp
into the ditch, yet every day shows
an appreciable lowering of the wat
er of the pond. This Is good in
dex of the manner in which the dit
ch will carry off all seepage water
from the low lands. Eventually a
lateral will be built here, as In
other places, to drain the land more
rapidly. This one pOirft of obser
walton gives one some conception
of the vast areas of land that will
be reclaimed in this big engineer
ing feat. But it is difficult to arise
to the full comprehension of the
results of this work in the whole
sale redemption of vast areas OF
hitherto soggy alkaline wastes,
The ditch starts at the Arkansas
river just south of the Cheyenne
Creek bridge. makes big "S' in
its course then goes under the San
ia Fe tracks at the Santa Fe bridge
crossing where 1t abruptly turns
west and parallels the track to the
Christman place. Leaving the Santa
Fe rigkt-ofway the ditch will turn
to, the northwest till it strickes
+ha Trail with which II will rim
parallel for a mile, when 1t will
swing still farther northwest
around the townsite of Holly and
on west-the west end draining
through the factory sewer to the
river.
The ditch will lmmedlatly bene
fit the new additions to the city
- b,+h ~, coat opd north sides