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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ployed in the construction. From the in- 

 take, at an elevation of 3,800 feet, the 

 water of its own gravity will flow with 

 gentle velocity, excepting at points where 

 power is developed, to the impounding 

 basins at the lower end, and will there 

 be drawn off as needed for irrigation and 

 domestic use. 



The size and the shape of the conduit 

 south from the Haiwee reservoir vary 

 greatly. Both are determined by the 

 character of the country and the soil 

 formation. The average size of the ex- 

 cavation now being made is 12 feet wide 

 and 10 feet deep. 



With the exception of the 22 miles of 

 unlined canal and the 38 miles of lined 

 conduit which empties into the Haiwee 

 reservoir, the aqueduct is being covered. 

 The lining of concrete for the conduit 

 ranges from 8 to 12 inches. The con- 

 crete slabs moulded into a covering have 

 a thickness of 6 inches and are reinforced 

 with steel. 



There are 22 miles of canal, 43 miles 

 of tunnels, 15 miles of steel siphons and 

 concrete flumes, and 137 miles of con- 

 crete-covered conduit, with 13 miles of 

 the remaining distance made up by reser- 

 voir distance. This makes a total of 230 

 miles from the point of intake to the 

 lower outlet. Thence the water required 

 for domestic consumption will be carried 

 20 miles in a riveted steel supply main, 

 which will empty into the reservoirs of 

 the city's present distribution system. 



This is the Los Angeles Aqueduct. 

 The major portion of the most difficult 

 and expensive part of the work is fin- 

 ished. In point of difficulty 68 per cent 

 of the aqueduct and 46 per cent in dis- 

 tance is completed. 



THK GROUNDWORK 01^ THE PROJECT 



Let us go back five years and with the 

 first party of engineers examine the bare 

 expanse across which they were expected 

 to search out the cheapest and most fea- 

 sible route. There was then a rambling 

 trail that led out of Mojave on the South- 

 ern Pacific north to Keeler on the shores 

 of Owens Lake and the terminal of the 

 Carson and Colorado narrow gauge. The 



path was dug into the desert more than 

 40 years ago by the wheels- of "Remi" 

 Nadeau's 20-mule freighters, which car- 

 ried the rich silver ore of the Sierra 

 Gordo mine to the port of San Pedro at 

 the rate of four cents a pound. Wind 

 and sand and cloudburst in the moun- 

 tains have changed it somewhat with the 

 years, but Vasquez and his gentlemen of 

 the road, were they alive today, could 

 still pick out the points of vantage where 

 they gave unwelcome greeting to travel- 

 ers of the trail. 



For four decades and until 1909 a 

 stage coach, vestige of the days of '49, 

 made tri- weekly journeys as the only 

 method of communication and transpor- 

 tation between Mojave and Keeler, stop- 

 ping at seven points for change of horses. 

 These seven points mark as many water- 

 holes. You will not find the precious 

 fluid elsewhere along the path. Had you 

 not the wherewithal to ride, and had the 

 trace of wheels been blotted out, you 

 could have still guided your steps by 

 empty bottles. It is a dry land and brings 

 thirst quickly. 



At times even fuel with which to 

 cook — and fuel was sage brush — became 

 a rarity for these engineers. One party 

 followed another until there were more 

 than 200 men in the field. With labori- 

 ous effort they marked their progress 

 with a fine of stakes set 50 feet apart, 

 sometimes in places where a human foot 

 had never trod nor cared to tread. They 

 found little or no water, no fuel for the 

 development of power, no railroads to 

 carry materials, men, and subsistence, 

 and for 100 miles within the zone of the 

 aqueduct not even trails. 



The $23,000,000 bond issue was voted 

 June 13, 1907. Immediately the portion 

 of the plans of these engineers that called 

 not for aqueduct excavation, but for 

 overcoming obstacles by which aqueduct 

 construction might be accomplished, be- 

 gan to materialize. 



A EEW 01^ THE DIEEICULTIES OVERCOME 



They built 225 miles of road and trail, 

 one notable example in the Jawbone Di- 

 vision being hewn for 8 miles in solid 



