22 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



RECLAMATION SERVICE NOTES. 



A contract has been executed with Marcus E. Getter, 

 of Mitchell, Neb., for the construction of ten miles of earth- 

 work, distributing system, Interstate canal, North Platte irri- 

 gation project, Nebraska. Mr. Getter's bid was $5,649. 



A contract has been awarded to the Kansas Portland 

 Cement Company, of Tola, Kas., for furnishing 5,000 barrels 

 of Portland cement for the Garden City irrigation project, 

 in western Kansas. The bid of the above named company, 

 at $1.60 per barrel, f. o. b. cars at Tola, was the lowest re- 

 ceived, transportation considered. 



Bids are solicited for furnishing 2,500 barrels of Portland 

 cement for the Rio Grande irrigation project, New Mexico. 

 The bids will be opened at Las Cruces, N. M., November 1st. 

 Bids for the construction of the diversion dam at Penasco 

 Rock, and canal work, will be opened October 16th. It is 

 desired to begin construction during the low water stage. 

 The engineers hope to be able to furnish water to about 

 15,000 acres under the Leasburg diversion next summer. 



The board of consulting engineers recently convened at 

 Portland, Ore., to open bids for the construction of main 

 canal and laterals of the distributing system. Umatilla irriga- 

 tion project, Oregon, received seven proposals, which were 

 transmitted to the Department for action. The work is di- 

 vided in two schedules, and the Secretary of the Interior 

 today awarded contract for schedule 1, consisting of about 

 fifteen miles of main and lateral ditches, to Thomas Jaques, 

 of Pilot Rock, Ore. Mr. Jaques' bid was $20,212.50. All 

 bids on schedule 2, which consists of twenty-six miles of 

 main canal and laterals, were rejected on the ground that 

 they were unreasonably high. The Secretary of the Interior 

 authorized the Reclamation Service to prosecute the work by 

 force account. Horses for this work will be shipped from 

 the Klamath irrigation project in the southern part of Ore- 

 gon, as their use at the latter place is not needed during the 

 winter. 



The Secretary of the Interior has rejected all bids re- 

 ceived for the construction of structures for the Garden City 

 irrigation project, Kansas, and authorized the construction of 

 the work by force account under the direction of the Recla- 

 mation Service. The work consists of the construction of 

 deep and shallow wells, suction pipes, pumping stations, 

 siphons, concrete lined conduits, and fencing. The bids were 

 all greatly in excess of the estimates of the engineers, except 

 one bid for a gate valve, and it is believed that the work 

 can be more economically performed by force account. 



A contract has been executed with Henry C. DeLaney, 

 of Williston, N. D., for the construction and completion of 

 canals and structures under the Williston irrigation project, 

 North Dakota. The work involves the excavation of about 

 220,000 cubic yards of earth, and furnishing labor and material 

 for various structures requiring about 40,000 feet B. M. of 

 lumber, and 1,000 cubic yards of concrete. Mr. DeLaney's 

 bid was $81,867. 



A contract has been executed with Flower & Twing, of 

 Morrill, Neb., for the work provided for in schedule 4, earth- 

 work of distributing system, North Platte irrigation project, 

 Nebraska. 



The bid of the contracting company for this work was 

 $11,711, and the contract calls for the earthwork on about ten 

 miles of lateral. 



The engineers in charge of the Belle Fourche irrigation 

 project, South Dakota, are rushing work all along the line, 

 as freezing weather will soon force suspension of operations 

 till spring. The Chicago & North-Western Railway Com- 

 pany has made surveys preliminary to connecting their main 

 line with the Government townsite. There is great difficulty 

 in procuring a sufficient force of laborers, and the contractors 

 are put to great expense by being obliged to continually ship 

 in men from Omaha, Denver, and other labor centers in order 

 to keep the necessary number of men on hand to carry on 

 the work. The contractors are paying from $2.50 to $2.75 

 per day for common labor, and the Government pays $2.20 

 for eight hours' work. Authority has been granted for the 

 construction of three miles of canal inside the Belle Fourche 

 reservoir to connect the Inlet canal by way of Dry Creek, 

 with the constructed portion of the South canal, so that 

 water can be delivered to lands under this canal next spring. 

 The engineers believe the work will have reached a point 

 where water can be delivered to about 10,000 acres next 

 season. 



Proposals have been requested for the construction of 



a diversion dam and headworks on the North Platte River, 

 in Nebraska, in connection with the North Platte irrigation 

 project. The work will involve the excavation of about 

 100,000 cubic yards of earth and rock, furnishing and placing 

 in structures about 10,000 feet B. M. of lumber, and the con- 

 struction of about 8,000 cubic yards of concrete masonry. 

 The bids will be opened in Mitchell, Neb., November 1st. 

 Work on the North Platte project has progressed rapidly 

 during the season. The first forty-five miles of the Inter- 

 state canal has been -furnishing water at several places for 

 irrigation, but preparations for receiving it were incomplete 

 and full use of the canal will not be made until next season. 

 The second section of the canal is under construction and 

 surveys for the third fifty miles are being made. Contracts 

 have been awarded on fourteen schedules of the distributing 

 system and the work on the laterals is already in progress. 

 The Pathfinder dam is progressing favorably and it is ex- 

 pected that about 15,000 cubic yards of masonry will be 

 laid before cold weather forces suspension of work. It is 

 hoped that water can be delivered to about 40,000 acres un- 

 der this project during 1907. 



A contract has been executed with the D'Olier Engineer- 

 ing Company, of Philadelphia, for furnishing and installing 

 pumping machinery for the Buford-Trenton irrigation project, 

 North Dakota. The contract calls for the installation of 

 three transformers of 300 kilowatt capacity, and eight motor- 

 driven pumping units of capacities of 16 and 30 cubic feet 

 per second under heads of 50 and 33 feet respectively, with 

 necessary electrical apparatus and water pipes, in pumping 

 stations near Buford, N. D. The D'Olier Engineering Com- 

 pany will receive $40,836 for the work. Now that the contract 

 is let and the exact dimensions of the machinery are known, 

 the engineers will determine on the design of the floating 

 barge in which the intake pumps are to be mounted, and 

 labor and material will be secured for the construction of 

 the barge. The water supply for this project is from the 

 Missouri River, the slight gradient of which necessitates lift- 

 ing the water direct from the stream by pumps. No long 

 and expensive canal system will be required. An abundance 

 of lignite fuel exists in the vicinity and it is proposed to gen- 

 erate power at the mines and transmit it electrically to the 

 several pumping stations for the Buford-Trenton and Willis- 

 ton projects. The first pumps will be placed on floating 

 barges. These will, of course, accommodate themselves to 

 changes not only in water level, but to the shifting of the 

 stream, the water being conducted from the pumps on the 

 barges through pipes with flexible joints, to the main canal. 

 Additional sub-station lifts will be introduced wherever re- 

 quired. 



A contract has been executed with John H. Donohue, of 

 St. Paul, Minn., providing for the construction and comple- 

 tion of building for Station 1, power and pumping system, 

 Williston irrigation project, North Dakota. The estimated 

 cost of the work will be $13,886. 



During the month of September 719 feet were added to 

 the excavated portion of the Gunnison tunnel, Uncompahgre 

 irrigation project, Colorado, making a total of 16,031 feet. 

 The progress during the last two months has not been quite 

 up to the usual standard on this tunnel, on account of the 

 extreme hardness of the quartzite rock in one heading and 

 the friable and dangerous nature of the material in the other 

 heading. The work has reached points so far from the por- 

 tals that the difficulties in ventilation and tramming have 

 increased. Severe storms during the month delayed work on 

 the South canal and caused a loss to the contractor of ap- 

 proximately $1,000. The scarcity of labor throughout the 

 West is being severely felt on this project in all lines of 

 work, both contract and force account. 



A contract has been executed with the Pacific Coast Com- 

 struction Company, of Portland, Ore., for the construction 

 and completion of the Yellowstone dam and accessory struc- 

 tures, Lower Yellowstone irrigation project, Montana and 

 North Dakota. This dam is to be a rock-filled, timber-cribbed 

 structure, located about eighteen miles northeast of Glendive, 

 Mont., for the purpose of diverting the waters of Yellowstone 

 into a canal extending about eighty miles down the west 

 side of the river for the irrigation of 67,000 acres_ of land, 

 two-thirds of which lie in Montana. The work requires about 

 500,000 feet of lumber, 700 piles, 1,600 sheet piles, 11,000 cubic 

 yards of rock rilling and riprap, and eighty tons of steel. 

 The contracting company will receive $142,825 for its work, 

 which according to the terms of the contract must be com- 

 pleted February 1, 1909. 



