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<br />,". r C' 3 <br />2" t. 'oJ <br /> <br />METROPOLITAN WATER OISTRICT <br /> <br />United States and District. The United States will advertise for <br />bids for construction, but award of the contract is subject to <br />approval by the general manager and chief engineer of the District. <br /> <br />C'lIwls) conduits, sipholts. fUl/u,)x, f/wl rC8cJ'L'oirs <br /> <br />With the exception of short periods totaling about two days, or <br />half of 1 percent of the possible operating time, the main aqueduct <br />carried Colorado River water continuously during the fiscal year. <br />From July to November 1951, inclusive, and in the last week of <br />May and first week of June 1952, the delivery approximated 400 <br />cubic feet pel' second, or the normal capacity of two pumps. At <br />other times the flow was approximately 200 cubic feet per second. <br />A superintendent of aqueduct maintenance and a crew of six <br />men with headqu3xters at Iron Mountain camp were responsible <br />for the maintenance and operation of the canals, conduits, siphons, <br />tunnels, and reservoirs from the Colorado River to the West Coa- <br />chella tunnels, a distance of 168 miles. The remaining 74 miles of <br />main aqueduct to Lake Mathews were maintained and operated by <br />a maintenance superintendent and small crew stationed at Lake <br />Mathews. The primary concern of these forces is protecting the <br />quality of the watet., and their work includes regular and frequent <br />patrols of the open lined canal, inspecting and sampling of stored <br />water, cleaning brush, tules, and debris from the reservoir shore- <br />lines, spot application of copper sulfate when required for algae <br />control, and the removal of blow sand and debris from sand traps <br />and canals. Other maintenance work includes repairing structures <br />and District roads on the aqueduct system, and the servicing of <br />automotive and maintenance equipment. <br />The canal system was constructed with small sand traps con- <br />sisting of concrete-lined depressions 8\.~ feet deep, with square <br />openings the full width of the canal bottom, located at approximately <br />half-mile intervals in the 14-mile section east and in the five-mile <br />section west of Iron Mountain. The mixture of blow sand and algae <br />is removed from these depressions by pumping or by excavating <br />with a truck crane. Woven lath-and-wire sand protection fences, <br />totaling 22,000 feet in length, built along the most critical portions <br />of the canal have proven effective in reducing the amount of wind- <br />blown sand entering the canaL _ <br />Due to the low winter temperatures of the water flowing in the <br />aqueduct, contraction of the concrete causes new cracks to form <br />and old cracks to open in the shell of circular siphons, and causes <br />leakage at other locations. Howevel', during the past winter the <br /> <br />l <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />I <br />~ <br />