Water Bringer

Title

Water Bringer

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture & Enhancement

Description

The nearly four mile long wooden water pipe that slaked the thirst of some 500 early Colorado residents was a workhorse. It moved 75,000 gallons of water a day, 27.3 million gallons a year and 657 million gallons over its 24-year life, from 1916 to 1940.

In the years between 1916 and 1940, a nearly 4 mile long wooden water pipe provided drinking water for early Castle Rock residents and those in Canon City, Colorado. The pipe moved 75,000 gallons of water each day or nearly 28 million gallons per year during that time.

While one concern was water pressure back in the early 1900s, of greater concern was the high alkalai content in the rocks and sediment in the Royal Gorge leaching into the towns water supply. That's why prison labor built our 8 mile long California redwood water line. It made Canon City the first town in Colorado with city wide running water, and served the town until a hard freeze caused extensive damage and the water line was abandoned in 1975. It is now a protected landmark, and a great part of the history of Canon City, and the Royal Gorge Route Railroad.

Originally made from redwood then later replaced with steel, the pipe brought adequate drinking water to the thirsty towns. There were two main kinds of wooden water pipe. The more primitive were Log Wood pipes, hollowed-out tree trunks or logs. The log would be somewhere between 20 to 30 inches in diameter, with the bored pipe hole being about 3 to 6 inches in diameter. The ends of the logs were beveled to fit together and when soaked with water would swell and form a water-tight seal.

Stave wood pipes had the advantage of being pieced together somewhat like tongue and groove joints of staggered lengths, building a continuous pipe and lessening the number of joints. These pipes also swelled when soaked with water, forming tight seals. Tar was applied to the outside and the pipe was wrapped with metal bands to keep it stable. Interestingly, water coming from these pipes didn’t taste like wood since the tree sap was soon flushed out and thus the taste went with it.

If you take the Royal Gorge Route Railroad through the Royal Gorge, you can easily see parts of the pipe along the river.

Some digital effects were applied to this original image after the photograph was made. No electrons were harmed during the transition. Ordered images will not contain the FAA watermark.

Image copyright 2019 Jon Burch Photography

Uploaded

May 22nd, 2019

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