THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



309 



Canal and its tributaries. The construction work is the second 

 ! f'tial factor for success in a well organized irrigation sys- 

 tem. Without the best kind of construction work an even 

 flow of water is not assured. 



Every dam, flume, drop, measuring weir and waste gate 

 in the Amity Canal is made of solid concrete reinforced with 

 steel. The dam in the Arkansas river which diverts the river 

 water into the Amity Canal is 504 feet long and 28 feet high 

 from crest to base. It is composed of concrete and is well 

 bolted to bed rock. This dam was subjected, a year ago last 

 .IT to as severe a test as could be possible. On that 

 d.ii, the river reached a higher point than it was ever known 

 to reach before, but the Amity dam, constructed at a cost of 

 SI '.'".. ooo by the best engineers in the country, was not damaged 

 in the least. 



To the right of the view below may be seen the head- 



I " the left of the above view may be seen the point 

 at which the Comanche Canal, the outlet to the reservoirs, 

 joins the Amity Canal. From the reservoirs to this point, a 

 distance of 14 miles, there is a fall of 279 feet. Were some 

 sort of construction not made to prevent the rush of water 

 it would be impossible to control the Comanche Canal. To 

 prevent the washing out of the canal, eleven concrete drops 

 were built at different points along its course. The water 

 runs along smoothly until it reaches one of these drops when 

 it plunges down 12 to 15 feet onto solid concrete. The cut 

 below is one of the eleven drops in the Comanche Canal. 



The Arkansas Valley Sugar Beet & Irrigated Land 

 Company which built the above works, and owns the lands 

 lying under the Amity Canal, has its headquarters at Holly. 

 Colo., just four miles from the Kansas line. This town 

 shows evidence of the productiveness of the lands surround- 



Gate Xo. 1 Kicking Bird Canal. Note the solid appearance of the concrete work and the patent gates which are also made of 



reinforced concrete. 



of the Amity Canal. The gates are set in solid rock 

 and the water flows through a tunnel in the rock. 



From the dam the Amity flows about 30 miles through 

 smooth plains until it comes to Sand Creek, where it joins 

 the water from the reservoirs. The crossing of Sand Creek 

 was always a serious problem until it was decided to go 

 under instead of over the bed of the creek. Three concrete 

 tunnels were made under the bed of the creek, 22 feet below 

 its surface. On these tunnels rests a concrete bridge for use 

 of automobiles and wagons. The view below shows the bridge 

 above the siphon. The waters of the creek pass over the 

 siphon, under the bridge and between the piers. The length 

 of this siphon from intake to outlet is n.SO feet. The water 

 enters the siphon at the end of the bridge on the left and 

 comes out to the right of this view. 



ing it. It has sprung, in the past twelve years, from a bar- 

 ren desert to a thriving little city of 1500 people. Every soul 

 of the 1500 has "Help Holly Hustle'' for its motto and led 

 by the Holly Commercial Club they will soon make Holly 

 a town of 5,000 people. 



Capitalists of Reno, and other Nevada cities, have 

 applied for the right to reclaim 200,000 acres in the Amar- 

 gosa Valley. This land lies in the new county of Clark 

 and extends south from Gold Center to Parhump. It is 

 claimed that the company is ready to spend $4,000,000 in 

 reclamation work. Water available is sufficient to irri- 

 gate 10,000 acres, but it is supposed that subterranean 

 streams can be tapped for a much larger supply. 



