THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



as follows: Seventy per cent of the amount covered by the 

 original contract to be completed by December 1, 1906 ; one 

 hundred per cent of the work covered by the original pro- 

 posal, which covers the completion of all structures which 

 would in any way interfere with the flow of water in the 

 canal, by April 1; the entire work, covering the completion of 

 other structures, such as bridges, overflows, etc., by July 

 1, 1907. 



The Secretary of the Interior has temporarily withdrawn 

 from settlement, entry, or other form of withdrawal under 

 the public land laws, except the Homestead Law, the follow- 

 ing described tracts for use in connection with the Grand 

 River irrigation project, North Dakota: Fifth Principal 

 Meridian, North Dakota T. 129 N., R. 98 W., Sees. 27, 28, 

 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 ; T. 129 N., R. 99 W., Sees. 26, 29, 30, 

 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 ; T. 129 N., R. 100 W., Sees. 19, 20, 

 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36. Black Hills 

 Meridian, South Dakota All fractional townships 23 N., Rs. 

 8, 9 and 10 E. 



The following public lands under this project are with- 

 drawn from any form of disposition whatever under the 

 public land laws; Fifth Principal Meridian, North Dakota 

 T. 129 N., R. 101 W., Sees. 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 

 27, 34 and 35. 



The Reclamation Service will purchase forty four yard 

 dump cars from the Kilgore Peteler Company, Minneapolis, 

 Minn., at $168.75 each ; sixty-five tons of rails from the 

 Hoftius Steel and Equipment Company of Seattle, Wash., 

 at $34 per ton, and 125 tons ,of rails from the Kilgore 

 Peteler Company at $33 per ton. Also the purchase from the 

 Ernst Wiener Company, of New York City, of ten switches 

 at $35 each. This equipment is to be used in the construc- 

 tion of the Cold Springs dam, Umatilla irrigation project, 

 Oregon, which is being carried on under force account by the 

 Reclamation Service. 



A contract has been executed with the Billings Construc- 

 tion Company, of Billings, Mont., for the construction of the 

 Corbett dam and auxiliary structures, under the Shoshone 

 irrigation project, Wyoming. The Corbett dam is a rein- 

 forced concrete structure located on Shoshone River about 8 

 miles northeast of Cody, Wyo., and the contract involves 

 about 10,000 cubic yards of excavation, 5,000 cubic yards of 

 concrete, 9,000 cubic yards of earth and gravel embankment 

 and the placing of 250,000 pounds of steel reinforcement. 

 The bid of the contracting company was $66,750, and accord- 

 ing to the terms of the contract the work must be completed 

 on or before April 1, 1907. 



An extension of three months' time has been granted to 

 the United Iron Works of Oakland, Cal., for the completion 

 of their contract for furnishing gates and lifting devices for 

 use in connection with the Payette-Boise irrigation project, 

 Ida. This extension is allowed by reason of the fact that the 

 manufacturers were not furnished with the details and de- 

 signs in time to comply with the original agreement. 



The Secretary of the Interior has authorized the pur- 

 chase of four ten-inch by sixteen-inch locomotives of thirty- 

 six-inch gauge, at $3,000 each, from the American Locomotive 

 Company, of New York City. These locomotives are to be 

 used as a portion of the construction plant for hauling exca- 

 vated materials for the Cold Springs dam, Umatilla irriga- 

 tion project, Oregon, which is to be constructed under the 

 direction of the Reclamation Service by force account. 



In response to requests for proposals for furnishing 2,500 

 barrels of Portland cement for use on the Truckee-Carson 

 irrigation project, Nev., the following bids were received: 

 Pacific Portland Cement Company, $2 per barrel, f. o. b. cars 

 at company's mill, Tolenas, Cal.; Portland Cement Company, 

 of Utah, Ltd., $2.75 f. o. b. cars, Salt Lake City, Utah. The 

 bids are awaiting action by the Secretary of the Interior. 



Proposals are asked for furnishing about 55,000 pounds 

 of steel bars for reinforcing concrete, about 12,800 pounds of 

 structural steel, and about 9,000 pounds of cast iron gates, 

 guides, stands, etc., for use in connection with the Rio 

 Grande irrigation project. New Mexico. The bids will be 

 opened at Las Cruces, N. M., on November 15th. 



A contract has been executed with the Deadwood Con- 

 struction Company, of Deadwood, S. D., for the construc- 

 tion of Schedule 5, earthwork of distributing system, Inter- 

 state canal, North Platte irrigation project, Nebraska. Sched- 

 ule 5 consists of the earthwork on about 14 miles of laterals, 

 involving the excavation of about 66,300 cubic yards of 

 material. The bid of the contracting company was $12,615. 



Proposals are asked for the construction of the diversion 



dam and headworks, in connection with the North Platte 

 Irrigation project, Wyoming-Nebraska. The work involves 

 the excavation of about 90,000 cubic yards of earth and rock, 

 furnishing and placing in structures about 10,000 feet board 

 measure of lumber, and the construction of about 8,000 cubic 

 yards of concrete masonry. The bids will be opened at 

 Mitchell, Neb., January 9, 1907. This work was previously 

 advertised and but one bid received, and that for only part of 

 the work. The Secretary of the Interior rejected this bid 

 as being excessive, and authorized the prosecution by force 

 account of certain work near the headgates which was neces- 

 sary in order that water may be delivered in the spring 

 of 1907. 



The contractors on the Pathfinder dam, North Platte 

 irrigation project, Wyoming-Nebraska, are making every 

 effort to get the masonry as high as possible before severe 

 weather sets in, and with this idea in mind have put every 

 available man, including the carpenters, on the concrete work. 

 Twenty-five hundred cubic yards were laid during the month 

 of October. There was one week of continuous stormy 

 weather, and during the enforced idleness sixteen laborers 

 left the camp. The labor problem does not improve, and on 

 this account only half the capacity of the plant for laying 

 masonry was reached in the past month. Work on the 

 Interstate canal and lateral system was also somewhat de- 

 laved by stormy weather and the inability to obtain men and 

 teams, but fair progress was made. Concrete work for the 

 seven lateral outlets on the first 45 miles of canal were com- 

 pleted and rye was sown on the embankments to protect 

 them from erosion by wind and rain. A field party is at 

 work making preliminary location of the third fifty miles 

 of the Interstate canal, and about 25 miles were completed in 

 October. 



The engineer in charge of the Strawberry Valley Irrigation 

 project, Utah, reports that 120 feet of the tunnel were com- 

 pleted on the first of the month. Only one shift of eight 

 hours was worked on the tunnel during the greater part of 

 October, as the men were busily engaged in getting ready the 

 buildings necessary to house the men and animals during the 

 winter season. An engine house, powder house and black- 

 smith shop also have been erected. The road is completed 

 to the east end of the tunnel. This road was one of the 

 important preliminaries to construction, as everything had to 

 be hauled 24 miles from the railroad to the west end and 

 about 31 miles to the east end of the tunnel. The electrical 

 drills which are being given a trial are doing very good 

 work, and it is hoped they will prove a success. A great 

 deal of difficulty is experienced in procuring the services of 

 miners for tunneling. Large quantities of dead wood which 

 is plentiful on the hillsides have been hauled into camp in 

 anticipation of the heavy snows which may be expected in 

 that altitude. 



The Secretary of the Interior has awarded Contract to 

 J. P. Nelson, of San Antonio, Texas, for the construction of 

 diversion dam, other structures and six miles of canal, Rio 

 Grande irrigation project, New Mexico. The work is in the 

 vicinity of Las Cruces, and involves the furnishing and driv- 

 ing of about 35,000 linear feet of round piles and 170,000 feet 

 board measure of sheet piles, constructing about 2,600 cubic 

 yards of concrete, excavating about 321,000 cubic yards of 

 earth, and other related works. This unit, the first to be 

 undertaken under 'the Rio Grande project, is known as the 

 Leasburg diversion. It is for the purpose of delivering water 

 from the river into the present Mesilla Valley canals, which 

 have no permanent headings. Construction will be pushed 

 as rapidly as possible with the hope that water may be 

 delivered during the next irrigating season. 



On October 26th the first of the concrete lining was 

 placed in the Gunnison tunnel, Uncompahgre irrigation pro- 

 ject, Colorado. Work was begun on this tunnel on January 

 11, 1905, and on the first of the present month 16,788 feet 

 had been excavated, 757 feet having been excavated during 

 October. The progress made the past month is considered 

 exceptionally good when the character of the material en- 

 countered is considered. Several hundred feet of the con- 

 crete floor in the west end of the tunnel is already completed. 

 The concrete plant promises to be a very economical one. 

 Gravel is obtained on the top of the hills surrounding the 

 main shaft, which is located 4,950 feet from the west portal. 

 The gravel beds contain gravel and sand of excellent quality 

 in about the right proportion for concrete, and the material 

 is handled only twice between the pit and the wall of the 

 tunnel. Plans are being prepared for an improved form of 





