OCR

as the river bed was excavated to a depth of 30 feet by an underwater, drag-type bucket on a slack-line cableway designed for the job. Rock excavated from the tunnel and spillway, and finer materials from borrow areas were dumped from railway cars on a trestle to form the upstream and downstream faces of the dam in two separate, parallel ridges. Then, in a pool between the two embankments, a hydraulic monitor on pontons sluiced the finer materials from the coarse rock fill. As the materials settled to the bottom, the impervious core of the dam was formed. Excess water escaped through the downstream face to flow back into the river, its purpose accomplished. Approximate cost of this project was $1,463,500. 3. New railroad line from Klamath Falls, Oregon to Altwas, California, for the Southern Pacific Company in the amount of $932, 000. 4. The branch Line from Ashton to West Yellowstone in Idaho for the Union Pacific Railroad Company in the amount of $2, 500, 000. 5. El Ferrocarril Sud Pacifico de Mexico - An even more challenging railroad building contract came in 1923 when Utah secured the job of completing a connection of the Southern Pacific's system to the National Railways of Mexico at Guadalejora. L, S. Corey was in charge of this project comprising 110 miles of track climbing through the rugged "Barranca" country easterly from Tepic, There were no roads. No way of getting around except by horseback and pack animals. In addition, the contract followed 15 years of revolution in Mexico. Attempts were being made to put a government in operation, but it wasn't operating effectively, particularly in the back country. About the only government was the military government. Bandits were hiding out throughout the area and it was necessary for Utah to keep their own small police force to keep the peace. They had Mexican soldiers domiciled at intervals in the 110 mile stretch of tracks. All of Utah's top personnel were told to carry arms and everyone wore a revolver. Nevertheless, there were a number of pitched battles and people on both sides were killed. Too much alcohol, or marijuana, or both, worked against Utah's efforts to keep the peace. The Mexican railroad, which required construction of thirty-five tunnels and an equal number of bridges across deep narrow canyons, was done largely by hand. Even though the men were paid twice the going Mexican wage rate, it was still more economical to use light tools and hand labor that to try to bring modern equipment into the mountains on the backs of . pack animals.