| Show UPEN HE t lets waters flow ined un L valley ay azes PROJECT IS COMPLETED lv euln budae pierced by the th gov ent in order to irrigate to kc ul dut out deml rid roda i tract in go colorado lorado lor rdo biscas montrose col 23 president nav fahs ta HS af at the he west ats portal of I 1 lest cur Oun alson aleon river tunzel tunnel a le afore flye five this afternoon a d ii e lever 1 and with a mighty rush of c the river elx six miles away ti into the valley LH afe ufe elting flood good nasIn ds of men rad and women who adt boiani Boi ant before bad had stood in rilent efti barat forth in wild cheering can ya abich had been captured by b colo cato coldo 0 do troops in man flit roared ft salute as arts baade ds added their patriotic gagic 0 o the clamor lamor mighty completed aa wf w fittingly signalize 4 the apt etlou lou of the gunnison Gunn teon river tun leht et trot project undertaken by tt united stacee tes government re fc atton service ce work on oa the pro ns begun four anda and a half hall years 3 tad progressed sled steadily ever lace together with la ia main and ils canals the tunnel will lr ir tipa alit acre acres of land in a tal 1 ley naturally one of the most fertile i la colorado but which has been semi irid idd because of the annual summer droughts and the inadequacy of the river 1 tula this day 0 ot the opening of the tun eel id was made the chief day dar of the ebern slope fair now being held here all the morning special trains 0 kept coming li lo 10 from various parte parts ot of the state and at 1030 there waa was a aade of the visitors bearly early in the afternoon me 11 explosion of a bomb told the that the special train bearing greald at taft and goy gov ailment abent officials offic tala had entered the city A second bomb announced bla his debarkation at the station and a third U ent sent up aa as the distinguished Pelt escorted by a great procession tilted for elks park president Preil dent tatt tat welcomed at the park after introductory re nu irks ka ax b P F D catlin chairman of jbf tl gunnison Guon lson tunnel opening commit Colora doaris the celebration cele brittl on up with an all illuminated Ill uinta med parade winding and ro rote display pyrotechnic story of the great tunnel first of the bly nation mation government reel project projects to be te gunnison Gunn lson undertaken the river tunnel has been the moat difficult ono one 0 of to the carry through ample waters of the quio flow through narrow ed oil to valley valleys uli sult agriculture or through deep rocky canyons while only a few fe miles to the vest west the lovely m valley has been 1 water waiter suffering for or ever the gunelson Gunn lson defending de ending in into deepening gorges florally plunged plu ageo the black canyon can yon cue ole 0 at the most an f eileent mountain gorges la the world this unpromising spot war w selected elect lect 34 as the starting point ot 0 I 1 the tunnel brave engineers r lowered themselves into tho t he black canyon at points where the granite wall walls rise almost utmost perpendicularly hundreds huni reds of feet and after their surveys were corn com plated active work was started on the i immense project at great expense and under enormous difficulties a wagon road was N as built to the east portal of the tun net it t Is IS 16 miles long and climb lag ing the granite ridge between the canyon and the uncompahgre valley descends the rocky wall on edolf work bore built for all time simultaneously work was begun at each end of the tunnel and at a point several thousand feet from the vert edd where a shaft was sunk As fast as the tunnel was driven through the shale and solid rock it wae was timbered and then the heavy timbers were covered with impervious cement this gives n i tunnel of solid concrete built ua you I 1 wes is r to 0 of yer its the terme view of went portal before Com letlon to withstand the wear of ages all the culverts cu lverts division div lelon gates drops and other work along the linns lines of the main mala canals are built c of teel and concrete there la fit no dam across the black canyon at the point where the river is turned into the tunnel instead of this the tunnel itself taps tape the river from beneath its granite led bed by thia this plan neither floods nor black witter can prevent the tunnel taking from the river all the water needed has immense capacity A few statistics of this tremendous project are worth betting setting forth tho the tunnel Is 30 feet long aa and 11 by 13 feet inside measurement tb main canal iu Is 30 feet wide at the bottom and 83 feet wide at the top aid vid the average depth of the water Is ten feet the capacity Is 1300 cubic foot of water a second after the water leaves the west portal of tho the tunnel it la is conducted through 12 miles of canal to the uncompahgre there la in a drop of feet in this distance and this great fall will be utilized for ere ftc iti tt Y f I 1 tl V V 4 V X t 4 4 r 4 y olt T 0 PA f kj rt concrete drop on the south cinal U tee mayor J Q alien allen turned the ley of tho the city over to the guests then nen john hn 0 dell bell delivered the formal address of welcome elcome to which preal dent fc tart taft spaded ded briefly and lapp appely app lly I 1 the here her con eluded with ith reio rejo arit arks by senator ebarle j hughda and GOT gov john nauroth naj froth roth at four trains startled led for or the west portal of c the tunnel are president Preel dent tatt taft opened the e and speeches pe echea were made by L I 1 IV mcconnell consulting engineer of the w reclamation service een rice and senator orae T defoce of grand junction aher after the return to montrose there e a reception to president taft and olbers era and thie this evening 1 speeches pe echea were Te red by a number of or well known knowl I 1 acing power A series of concrete drops baa has been constructed and the lomena body of water rushing over them Is capable of generating cene rating at least horse power which will he be utu iced in 14 lighting the entire endre uncompahgre taller valley br electricity the cott cost of the tunnel and dietrig canals Is over and perpetual water rights will be old sold to actual sett ars at about 35 an acre |
