THE POSSIBILITIES OF SALTON SEA 



1 5 



Details of Sixth Attempt, November 20, 1905. 



The total cost of the seventh and last attempt to control this irriga- 

 tion system has been $40,000, or thereabouts. There are two head- 

 gates — one, of concrete, on the California side, and one, of wood, on the 

 Mexico side. The one of concrete is built to stand the greater portion, 

 by far, of the strain, and it has every appearance of being amply sub- 

 stantial. The cost of this gate alone was $24,770.47. It necessitated 

 the excavation of 12,637.1 cubic yards of earth and 5,700.81 cubic feet 

 of rock, and required the use of 1,335 barrels of cement, 1,204.85 cubic 

 yards of sand, gravel and rock, 25,722 pounds of steel bars for rein- 

 forcement and 791 pounds of expanded metal for gate facings. The 

 work is being engineered by Mr. C. F. Cory, an engineer of wide 

 repute. ' 



Although these dams or head-gates seem to promise a solution to 

 the Salton Sea problem, there is nevertheless excuse for apprehensions 

 of further trouble. The banks of the Colorado River in this vicinity 

 are soft and gravelly and very easily eroded, and on this account there 

 will always be the possibility of new channels being cut around these 

 head-gates, especially during flood seasons. 



Details of Sixth Attempt, November 20, 1905. 



