1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



513 



feet of water per second. About 17,- 

 000 feet of the 30,000 feet of the tun- 

 nel have been built. 



In the excavation for the tunnel the 

 work was begun at both ends and from 



From the west end of the tunnel a 

 canal will carry the water of the Gun- 

 nison River into the Uncompahgre 

 Valley and from its' various main 

 canals and laterals will branch out 



a shaft about one-half mile from the until the entire irrigable area of the 

 western end. The work at the west- valley has been covered. 



ern end has now been connected with 

 the work from the shaft so that all the 

 excavation at the west end is carried 

 on from the west portal. 



The lands in the Uncompahgre Val- 

 ley lie at an average of about 5,000 

 feet above sea level. These are prac- 

 tically surrounded by high mountain 



The material is transported by ranges and the climate in the valley 



means of small electric locomotives, i s exceptionally mild and even. . The 



which haul ten cars of rock and ma- so ii [ s unusually rich, and apples, 



terial, amounting to twenty cubic peaches, apricots, prunes, cherries, 



yards for each train load. wheat, oats, potatoes and sugar beets 



The east portal can be reached only produce in abundance, 

 by a wagon road, ten miles in length, 



which was constructed by the Govern 

 ment. All the machinery and material 

 used at that end of the tunnel is hauled 

 over this mountain road. The western 

 portal is located close to the line of the 

 Denver and Rio Grande Railroad so 

 that the material and machinery are 

 conveniently delivered for the work. 

 At either end of the tunnel a camp 



The principal towns in the valley 

 are Montrose and Delta, located on the 

 Denver and Rio Grande. They are 

 thriving and progressive communities 

 and the towns are well built with many 

 attractive office and residence build- 



ings. 



The construction of the tunnel and 

 the ditches has been under way since 



has been established and each is now the beginning of 1905 and excellent 



a village of some 500 people. These P ro S r ess has been made. It is prob- 



settlements are provided with water able that water can be furnished under 



works, electric lights, sewerage sys- the project in 1908, and that a system 



terns, school houses, telephone and will be running in fully completed 



postoffice facilities. form in 1909. 



THE RIO GRANDE PROJECT 



Work to be Rushed on What will be One 

 of the Government's Greatest Irrigation Works 



r T > HE Secretary of the Interior has 

 A executed a contract on behalf of 

 the United States, and approved the 

 bond of Contractor P. Nelson, of San 

 Antonio, Texas, for the construction 

 and completion of a diversion dam and 

 canal for the Rio Grande irrigation 

 project, New Mexico. The contract 

 calls for the construction of six miles 

 of canal, with 321,000 cubic yards of 

 excavation, the furnishing and driv- 

 ing of 35,000 linear feet of round piles 

 and 170,000 feet board measure of 



sheet piles, and 2,600 cubic yards of 

 concrete for the sum of $100,187.50. 



The letting of this contract launches 

 the Government on the great work of 

 constructing the Rio Grande project, 

 one of the largest and most expensive 

 of the irrigation works undertaken by 

 the Reclamation Service. 



This project contemplates the con- 

 struction of a huge dam near Engle, 

 New Mexico, to store water for the 

 irrigation of 180,000 acres, 110,000 of 

 which lie in that territory. The cost 



