THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



185 



in operation 1,373 miles of telephone lines. It has 1,154 

 horses and mules on hand and at work, is operating nine loco- 

 motives, 223 cars, 23 miles of railway, 39 stationary engines, 

 and 27 pumps and five electric light plants. The work is giv- 

 ing employment to 10,000 people, and involves the expenditure 

 of approximately $1,000,000 a month. 



As a result of the operations of the Reclamation Service 

 eight new towns have been established, 100 miles of branch 

 railways have been constructed, and 10,000 people have taken 

 up their residences in the desert. The work has given a de- 

 cided impetus to every line of industry in the West. 



cast iron gates, guides, stands, etc., for use in connection 

 with the North Platte irrigation project, Nebraska- Wyoming, 

 the price named being $4,051.37. 



Rejected Bids. 



The Secretary of the Interior has rejected as excessive all 

 bids which were recently received for the construction and 

 completion of the Pathfinder dike, North Platte irrigation 

 project, Nebraska- Wyoming, and directed the readvertisement 

 of the work. 



Concrete Flume across Pecos river. Main view, December 18, 1905. 

 Carlsbad, N. M., Project. 



The Reclamation Service received some rather disquiet- 

 ing telegraphic reports from the lower Colorado river coun- 

 try recently, indicating that the river was rising at the rate 

 of six inches an hour. 



This is the period of the annual flood of the Colorado, 

 which occurs with remarkable regularity every year on nearly 

 the same date. The rise of 1905 came on March 15. 



High water measurements taken late in the afternoon of 

 March 1 showed a maximum flood flow of 63,500 cubic feet 

 per second, with the river stationary. Advices received from 

 the lower Colorado heading, near where the recent break 

 ii! the river banks occurred, show that the new levees are 

 holding well, and unless the flood reaches abnormal stage no 

 serious damage will occur. 



Want Too Much Money. 



The engineers of the Reclamation Service who have 

 charge of the construction of the Pathfinder dam, North 

 Platte irrigation project, Nebraska- Wyoming, are experi- 

 encing some difficulty in obtaining reasonable proposals for 

 building the dike. 



This dike is an earth structure reinforced with rock on 

 the water side, and its purpose is to supplement the Pathfinder 

 dam. On the south side of the dam is a depression which 

 will require a dike about a quarter of a mile long and thirty- 

 five feet high at the highest point. Bids for its construction 

 were opened February 27, but as the lowest bid was considT 

 erably inexcess of the engineer's estimates, all were rejected 

 by the Secretary of the Interior, and contractors are again 

 invited to submit proposals. 



The work is located about forty-five miles southwest of 

 Casper, Wyo., and involves about 170,000 cubic yards of earth 

 excavation and about 16,000 cubic yards of rip rap. Bids will 

 b? received at Crawford, Neb., up to June 5 by""the engineer 

 in charge. 



North Platte Project. 



The Secretary of the Interior has executed a contract 

 with the Vulcan Iron Works, of Chicago, 111., for furnishing 



The Secretary of the Interior has executed a contract on 

 behalf of the United States with the S. R. H. Robinson & 

 Son Contracting Company, of St. Louis, Mo., for the con- 

 struction and completion of diversion dam and headworks in 

 connection with the North Platte irrigation project, Nebraska- 

 Wyoming, for $217,850. 



The work involves the excavation of about 90,000 cubic 

 yards of earth and rock, furnishing and placing in structures 

 about 10,000 feet B. M. of lumber, and the construction of 

 about 8,000 cubic yards of concrete masonry. The dam will 

 be used to divert the waters which flow down the North 

 Platte river from the Pathfinder reservoir into the Inter- 

 state canal. 



Extension of Time. 



The Secretary of the Interior has granted an extension 

 of time to the D'Olier Engineering Company, of Philadelphia, 

 Pa., for the completion of their contract for furnishing an 

 electric power plant for the Garden City irrigation project, 

 Kansas. The date now fixed for the completion of the work 

 under this contract is three months from the receipt by the 

 contracting company of notification from the engineer in 

 charge of the work that the building in which the plant is. to 

 be installed is completed. 



The delay in furnishing the power plant was necessitated 

 b> the fact that the building could not be completed on time, 

 owing to the failure of the railroads to deliver the material. 



The Board of Consulting Engineers of the Reclamation 

 Service which met recently at Crawford, Neb., received three 

 bids for the construction of the Pathfinder dike, North Platte 

 irrigation project, Wyoming-Nebraska, as follows: 



Hubbard & Carlson, Boise, Idaho $293,935 



Geddes & Seerie, Denver, Colo 244,875 



James O'Connor, Mitchell, Neb 244,460 



This dike, which is to be constructed in connection with 

 the Pathfinder dam, is situated about forty-five miles south- 

 weste of Casper, Wyo., and involves about 170,000 cubic yards 

 of earth excavation, and about 16,000 cubic vards of rip rap. 

 These bids are under consideration, and the recommenda- 

 tions of the board will be announced later. 



Hondo Reservoir, looking north from outlet tower, January 31, 1907. 

 Hondo Project, New Mexico. Photo by W. J. Lubken. 



Mr. James W. Martin, of Mesa, Ariz., has received an 

 appointment as engineer in the Reclamation Service and as- 

 signed to the Salt River irrigation project, Arizona, where 

 hi will have charge of the construction of the diversion dam. 

 This dam will divert the waters stored behind Roosevelt dam 

 when they are allowed to flow down the river, and turn them 

 into the distributing canals at a point about forty miles down 

 stream from Roosevelt. 



Mr. Martin is a graduate of the University of Maine, and 

 has had a varied experience in the West in his profession. 



