| Show W Work Begins On Road To Antelope By BETTY BETrY It took us about two hours to make the ten or 11 mile round nd trip Our backs were pretty well covered with blobs of gray mud Our faces were ruddy from the biting wind while our feet and legs had stayed almost uncomfortably warm But we all agreed that it had been one of the most interesting and enjoy a b 1 e jaunts we had ever been on TilE ADVENTURE began for us last Friday at 1 pm p.m. when a few reporters reporters' met at atthe atthe the county commission chambers chambers cham cham- bers where Commission Chairman Chair Chair- l man ian WaYne M. M Win Winegar gar explained ex pl in d the ro route te we were were about to take on this lids adventure ture turc When we left the courthouse we headed for the Syracuse Road And as we neared the end of the present road which tends leads out toward Great Salt Lake he told us us several other i to meet us at that point We meaning the county county coun- coun coun- coun ty have stockpiled some 2500 yards yards' of gravel there That's enough to cover about two miles of road he explained as s several of the co owned county graver gravel trucks passed us us in the theo o opposite direction TIllS THIS operation Ihas been under wa way for the past six weeks And weve we've been using not only the county trucks to I haul the gravel but have put tracks from Sunset Clearfield Layton end nd Kaysville Into use Were We're trying to stock pile it at the site now whIle these trucks arent aren't too busy other places Then it will be where we need it when the roadbed is dry enough to apply the gravel next next summer he said lie He had already told us that Davis County was building a road out toward Antelope Is- Is land The Theone one thing that thousands thousands thou thou- sands of tourists want to see when they come to Utah is Great Salt Lake Its It's the one phenomenon we have in the state that no other state has People from all over the world have heard of our dead sea Now With just the construe construe- tion of this 5 miles of road they'll be able to turn west from Highway 91 aed within a few minutes be at the edge of the lake ake And f his will have been accomplished by late next summer the c commissioner commis- commis added BECAUSE Antelope Island is lo located at d in Davis County it has been the dream of many county leaders to develop it as a tOurist attraction There have been many methods suggested sug by municipal county state stat and imd national groups But up to this point our main problem has been how to get people out to the lake Were We're finally making that step This road will take people out outto outto to the bay which is within about lye 1 miles of the northeastern northeastern north north- eastern shore of of Antelope Is Is- land But tOday were we're taking yo yott out to where the draglines are are working in in a weasel Those ladle bugs have been bee most helpful to us in 11 getting gettin gaS gas aid other supplies out to to the workmen Co Commissioner ncr Winegar said sai AND AT in our conversation we reached leached the end end of the Syr Syracuse cus Road it is is' located a mile or or two west of the c of Syr cuse Off Off to the south kouth there w was s' s sa a huge mo mound nd of grav gravel l. l At the tho bottom bott m was a county owned cat And roaming all allup up p and down the hill were people who would be sharing this adventure wit witus us us' i Many of same people had sha shared ed a bus 11 a cattle boat an automo and and a a train ride with us' us on a similar I trek to Antelope Island and across Gre Great t Salt L Lake ke to toI I Promontory two y years ats agog ago I Among them were representatives tives ot T The e Great Salt Lake Authority various Chamb Chambers rs of Commerce members municipal mu leaders from Davis Dayis Salt Lake Weber and Tooele C Counties unties and personnel the Utah State Tourist and Council of I. I 1 1 ahead of us was the completed p portion of the road bed The county road crews have been literal 1 y yr r a road out of the lake and the swampy salt flats For several days now two draglines have been scooping scooping scoop scoop- ing a foot 20 wide barrow pit piton piton on the north and south of what hat hatwill will be a foot 35 roadway As s they scoop they dump the mud onto this center pile which is being built up about 20 feet above th the salt flats See ANTELOPE on 2 Antelope Island Trip Continued from front page By working rapidly and In three shifts around the clock it Is expected that this opera tion will be completed within the next few weeks Then this summer when U this s pile pUe of mud has become out the sock piled d gravel will be ap I plied This mUddy salty material ma should prove prove to to tobe be bean an Ideal roadbed because as It dries It becomes extremely hard and solid After all its it's the same material as the salt flats where the land speed rae rac Ing records are set TilE THE DRAGLINES one e Is owned by the county and the theother other by Smedley's Inc of Syracuse made rapid progress ress on the roadbed until they got out about 2 miles Then they began to have a water I problem So they walked I their machines out to the end of the proposed roadbed and started scooping theIr way back to the 2 mile point By doing this the water In the barrow pits drains away from the draglines Instead of towards to to- wards it They had progressed back from the edge of the bay where the road will end for fora a little better than a mile when we met them alter after our ride In what the commissioner had described as as asa a weasel but was officially named Swamp Sprite Others of the group rode In an Imp WE DIDN'T ride on top of the roadbed We had a much smoother tor lor the most part ride along the salt flats fiats There were 16 16 of us sitting on bales of hay or around the edges of the bed of the Swamp Sprite The Tho exhaust ran along under the floor so our feet kept warm while our faces were getting wind It was a beautiful clear day so we could see far distances In any direction On our way out snow clad Antelope and Fremont Islands were lul Jul against the clear blue sky AntI And on the way back the buildings which make f fIs Is County's bustling comm commit looked very Insignificant cant against the sno snow tipped Wasatch Mountains c h somehow took on a deep bl blue bluecast e cast that day EXCEPT for the noise of the vehicle In which we were riding and the occasional squeals as wo we rode the frozen waves It was peaceful yet not particularly desolate We passed several weathered stakes that must have been used In bygone years for dikes or possibly wharfs And It was rather surprising how much junk there was sUck stick Ing up out of the frozen mud such as old automobiles rust ed out boats and when We got out at our destination point many of the group walked over a few yards t to In the remains of an air plane crash At the draglines we met a aman aman man from the telephone con com pany He had just completed the installation of a telephone and radio so that the operators could contact the mainland especially In case of an emergency THESE draglines use pow erful lights to work by at night but you'd be surprised how helpful the white of the frozen ice and snow Is to us in locating our stakes one of the crew said It was interesting to watch them walk their machines T They ey have yea a group of f huge wooden planks they looked like ike railroad ties chained to to- gether There Is also a chain wrapped around the outside edges The machine sits on several groupings of these planks while scooping out the barrow pit Then as the work progresses the ope r rat a t o 0 r moves the machine to thee the rear group of planks lifts the group of planks that are In front o of him with the Scoop shovel he maneuvers the shovel so that it picks the group up by the chain and moves it to the back of his shovel Thus givIng lag Ing him a chance to move back a few more feet ON OUR WAY out we had traveled along the south of the roadbed But the driver felt that it had not been the best route We hadn't gone far when the tracks of the vehicle began throwing mud uP onto our backs I Then when we were were about three miles out we hit some rather U thin n Ice No Noone Noone one could tell how shallow the water under the Ice would be The driver said that if it was was quite deep there was no dan dan- ger The Sprite was built for either land or amphibian use But if 11 the water proved to b be too shallow and muddy there was a possibility of high centering cen with the load he was hauling So about six of us got cot out and walked for a a few yards |
