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<br />~~VI <br /> <br />.1 <br /> <br />been the conclusion of everyone who studied the <br />situation that this would not in any way impair <br />the bridge. In fact, the geologists say it would <br />prolong the life of the bridge since certain sed- <br />imentation would be deposited around the supports <br />of the bridge and would prevent further erosion. <br />Of course the bridge will last just as long as <br />its support lasts and eventually the water wi1l <br />cut the support out from under the bridge. It <br />may be a few thousand years hence but it will <br />occur eventually. But the conclusion of the <br />people who have studied the situation is that the <br />situation of the sedimentation under the bridge <br />would reduce the erosion at the bridge abutments. <br /> <br />,< <br /> <br />Secondly, that a waterway would now be pro- <br />vided as access to the bridge. At the present <br />time there are only a few hundred people a year <br />(if that many) who are able to get into that <br />national monument. It is an isolated area; there <br />are no roads in there of any kind and only a <br />handful of people are able to get in there. How- <br />ever, with the impoundment of water in Lake <br />Powell, access can be made to the bridge by boat. <br />You have seen the pictures in the pamphlet that <br />we gave you and the proposal that has been made <br />by certain conservationists is that a huge pro- <br />tective darn be placed in the channel of the small <br />stream which passes under Rainbow Bridge. . The <br />cost of constructing such a structure is stagger- <br />ing because of the problem of getting acce~s in <br />there. Once the structure is built it completely <br />blocks out the bridge from the downstream site <br />and, instead of preserving the natural beaUty of <br />the area, you would have to scar for some several <br />hundred years the natural beauty of the area be- <br />cause dirt would have to be secured from nearby <br />borrow pits. As a matter of fact, the plan en- <br />visions the actual moving of a high mesa there <br />into the channel site. It's a Rube Goldberg <br />contraption to protect the bridge. After you've <br />put in the dam, then of course the water that is <br />corning downstream backs up behind the dam and <br />th~n you have to pump the water out of the darn <br />again back over into the reservoir proper. The <br />maintenance fattor, year in and year out, is con- <br />siderable on such a dam and in the final analysis <br /> <br />I <br />