Uncompahgre Project, Colo. South Canal Division, Sixteen Series of Drops 



Almost the next communication from 

 Washington contained the order to pro- 

 ceed to dig. This was early in 1905. 

 and they dug to such purpose that on 

 July 6, 1909, the last round of shots 

 was fired and the men who had heeii 

 burrowing under the mountain of rock 

 from either end shook hands through 

 the opening. lUit between those two 

 dates all sorts of discouraging delays 

 were occasioned by unforeseen ob- 

 stacles. Poisonous gases, hot and cold 

 water, and cave-ins were encountered ; 

 but always the work was taken up again 

 promptly and pushed forward. h^d- 

 lowing blasts on various occasions mil- 

 lions of gallons of water rushed in upon 

 the workmen, who had to fight for their 

 lives. At one ])()int more than a mile 

 from the west ])ortal the bed of an old 

 ocean was exposed. Deeply embedded 

 in the rock were nu'llions of sea shells 

 of various sizes. The excavation here 

 was easy, but the shells rendered the 

 material exceedingly treacherous, and 

 596 



every foot of the way had to be tim- 

 bered to protect the workmen from 

 falling masses of rock. 



In May, 1905, the bed of an olil 

 creek caused a cave-in which shut ot'f a 

 number of workmen from their com- 

 panions and buried several others. The 

 men who were on the outside immedi- 

 ately began sinking a shaft to rescue 

 the imprisoned men. Down in the dark- 

 ness of that living tomb the men who 

 were uninjured threw up dikes to keep 

 the rising tide of water from reaching 

 their c(^mrades who were pinned down, 

 and many a tale is told of the brave 

 stories they invented to keep heart in 

 the injured men, although they them- 

 selves were almost hopeless. It was 

 forty-eight hours before they were 

 taken, exhausted, to the surface. 



To the engineering world this tunnel 

 is of interest as being the longest un- 

 derground waterway in the world. It 

 is six miles in length, has a finished 

 cross-section of ten and one-half by 



