The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Water Supply of the El Paso and
Southwestern Railway from Carrizozo to Santa Rosa, N. Mex., by J. L. Campbell

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Title: The Water Supply of the El Paso and Southwestern Railway from Carrizozo to Santa Rosa, N. Mex.
American Society of Civil Engineers: Transactions, Paper No. 1170

Author: J. L. Campbell

Release Date: August 5, 2005 [EBook #16440]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

INSTITUTED 1852

TRANSACTIONS

Paper No. 1170

THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE EL PASO AND SOUTHWESTERN RAILWAY FROM CARRIZOZO
TO SANTA ROSA, N. MEX.[A]

BY J.L. CAMPBELL, M. AM. SOC. C.E.

WITH DISCUSSION BY MESSRS G.E.P. SMITH, KENNETH ALLAN, and J.L.
CAMPBELL.

_Location_.--The El Paso and Southwestern Railway traverses the arid
country west of the 100th Meridian in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, as
shown on the map, Fig. 1. The water supply herein described serves that
division of this road lying between Carrizozo and Santa Rosa, a distance
of 128 miles.

_Rainfall_.--The average annual precipitation is 9.84 in. The year 1909
was exceptionally dry, with a rainfall of less than 5 in.

_Original Water Supply_.--East and west of El Paso, for distances of 270
miles in each direction, the railway crosses no streams, and the supply
was obtained from wells ranging from 100 to 1,100 ft. in depth. On the
division served by the new supply, this well-water is of very bad
quality, as shown in Table 1.

After the most thorough practicable treatment, these waters were still
so bad that they caused violent foaming, low steam pressure, hard
scaling, rapid destruction of boiler tubes, high coal and water
consumption, extraordinary engine failures and repairs, small engine
mileage, low train tonnage, excessive overtime, and a demoralized train
service.

[Footnote A: Presented at the meeting of May 4th, 1910.]

TABLE 1.

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