| Show A CANTON CANYON DAM in ln apol these e m columns a few ago we wo 1 0 of the possibility of making a mighty dam ot of granite across the mouth rf of ogden canyon and storing a vast power of water ia in that reservoir somo some day that hint will take definite shape it will be solidified into form the proposed granite of the dam and ten tea times as much labor as is today to day wearisomely performed by human beings in in ogden will bo be but a moment of laughing play for the electric tone force which may be generated by the ar artificial cataract the city extending then from the ba base 83 of the mountains to the tile confluence of the rivers will have abundance of w water ater to ma make ke comfort and beauty for its citizens aud and farms and orchards v yet e t in the future may be irrigated into wealth A similar plan is being put into execution in A ri ve we quote an account of the project from the journal miner the most important problem to be solved in in arizona is is the water question the fertility of ita its soil the richness of its grazing lands the wealth of its mines are unquestioned but with ith all their natural resources comes the question of a water supply for their development in some portions of the territory the wate waters rs of the larger streams have been diverted from their natural channels for the irrig irrigation atio n of adjacent lands with the most satisfactory results yavapai county is is unfortunate in this respect in that with one or tw two eit sit his has no streams of large proportions w inch which will furnish a water supply either for extensive irrigation or for placer mining any considerable portion of the we year the tile question of storing water for these purposes has naturally natu rilly lly attracted the attention of those interested in in developing its resources nature lias has provided many reservoirs airs leading into steep rocky canyons and has apparently invited human enterprise to utilize them by placing a barrier to these waters in in these canyons and store the supply lavishly given but unequally divided during the year about five years ago wells ells 11 II bates conceio conceived cd the idea of accepting natures invitation and putting into operation an enterprise of this kind the ampa at a point near the confluence of three of its tributaries tributa ries lust where it enters into a very narrow and rocky canyon can on seemed to his practical mind to be just such a place as nature intended for use of this kind while the comparatively level area along the tile stream and its trite tribe tanea immediately above it would furnish a natural reservoir reservoir for water away dow down n the calv canyon on below it are aye not only rich placer grounds but rich grazing lands in these lie saw gaw an opportunity for utilia ing and turning into wealth the wa lers which could be stored antho in alie re ser voir he ile bad had an extended and careful survey made of the country for miles and the enterprise was enthusiastically pronounced a practical one by engineers his ilis next move was the organization of a company with sufficient capital to carry the enterprise through to a successful culmination in this lie was successful cess ful after the usual delays del ays incident upon the organization of any great enterprise ter prise in june 1880 a little over one year ago work was commenced on the dam for storage purposes sw the compa company ny in in the meantime having purchased the rinch ranch of judge abner wade immediately above the dam bite site for reservoir purposes work has been pushed on the enterprise and oct 1 of this year v car or probably an earlier date will w ill witness its completion representative of tho the journal amer visited the enterprise the early part of last list week and notwithstanding all that had bad been told him was surprised at its magnitude when witnessing N it it for the first time As previously stated the dam is is located in a row gorge gorgi of creak w whose walls w alls of solid granite rise rie on either side to a height of several hundred feet at its b base age the dam is only eighty feet in length across the can yon 3 on the grac gradually lually widening space between the walla of the latter however make it about feet in in length at the top a height of feet As a resistance resie tinco to the immense pressure against it when bullo full it is feet thick at its N biso ase gradually eloping sloping on both sides until at the top to pit it will be only ten feet across its construction i fid as solid and substantial aa as is possible for human genius to build A wall built of rocks weighing from two tons down twelve feet in thickness is s built on the tile face and back of the dam and the intervening space is filled in with loose rocks thoroughly thorough ly tamped down on the upper face against which the water rests a skin of timbers is built first I 1 arst against the rocky face of the structure is a framework of timbers eight inches square to these there are fitted and a solid face of timbers closely joined 8 by 3 inches over tins this ie is placed a thick covering 0 of waterproof asphaltum covered felt and on top of this again is another covering or timber 3 by 6 inches the tile timber are calked as tightly as the hull of a ship the outer covering of the skin of the dam after being calked balked is is then painted with a heavy coat of p dark waterproof paint the rock of tins this 1 structure ts in under the supervision of george D nagle nag e who has a contract for ite its completion he took charge of the work lo 10 february last the first fire t thing ho he did on oa taking the tho contract was to discard the slow process of snaking in rock rocks over an ox trail and build tramways on bothi both sided of the canyon run running n 9 down dowa to the dam A 4 tramway y built on a trestle work twenty feet hi high alah ya was then run across tile center of the da dam in the cara cars contafi containing ning about a cubic yard of rock each are loaded in th the quarries q garnca 0 on the hillside and let lot down the tile incline the v eight weight of a loaded car drawing au aft empty one up so that within a few seconds from the time it is loaded in the quarries it is run out over the dam and dumped there while workmen below roll toll and arrange the huge in their places in in the structure As soon as the rocks reach a level with the tile trestle work another one twenty feet high Is built on top of it and tho the work of filling that level commenced As an illustration ot oi the th rapidity falth with which I 1 L I 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 m A gen nagle pu lies hes vork ork on the bruc structure it became necess necessary aryon on saturday night to erect now trestle work the distance then across the dam being I 1 0 feet at 7 the other e r morning 0 ing ar rl the work was completed a track a k laid on it and care were crossing it an electric light plant composed of 0 apparatus for generating the electricity N with ith six lamps lira pa of 1000 candle power each distributed at convenient points in the quarries and on lie tile dam furnish light tor for a force of workmen workman at night so that work never ceases and metaphorically speaking the enterprise never sleeps when completed and full the dam w ill III contain in round numbers gallons of water it will A ill extend up tho the ila say ampa a distance of two miles up arasha creek creck one and one fourth miles up Minne minnehaha baba three thre fourths e of a mile and up blind indian creek about one third of a mile its greatest width will be at the tile mouth of creek about one halt half mile within the area of the tile water lines will bo be contained including islands about two square miles mile s while alie water itself will coleran cover an a area of acres the weight of the dam itself will be between and tons and will cost about from the above it will be seen that this enterprise is one of the greatest magnitude in lie the territory and when in successful operation N ill be great in results to the territory it contains at present about forty acres or agta ions of water being in places thirty feet deep |
