Construction work on the Wellton-Mohawk canal, near Yuma, Arizona, USA in the early 1950s. The canal lining machine works its way along the canal’s profile. The giant mechanical device on rails lays concrete, poured from the hopper at its top, which will form the base and sloping sides of the waterway. The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District is located in south-west Arizona, east of Yuma, built between 1949 and 1957. It allows the irrigation in the Lower Gila valley with water from the Colorado river via the Gila Canal to the Wellton-Mohawk Canal, where it is pumped around 160 feet
Image details
Contributor:
M&N / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2H5A73YFile size:
20.7 MB (898.8 KB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
3248 x 2228 px | 27.5 x 18.9 cm | 10.8 x 7.4 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
5 November 2021Location:
Gila River, Yuma, Arizona, USAMore information:
This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.
Construction work on the Wellton-Mohawk canal, near Yuma, Arizona, USA in the early 1950s. The canal lining machine works its way along the canal’s profile. The giant mechanical device on rails lays concrete, poured from the hopper at its top, which will form the base and sloping sides of the waterway. The Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District is a water project located on the Lower Gila river in south-west Arizona, east of Yuma. The US Bureau of Reclamation built the scheme between 1949 and 1957. It allows the irrigation of up to 75, 000 acres in the Lower Gila valley, between the towns of Wellton and Mohawk with water from the Colorado river via the Gila Canal to the Wellton-Mohawk Canal, where it is pumped around 160 feet in three stages to the headwaters. In 1961 Wellton-Mohawk return began carrying back water to the Gila river and eventually to the Colorado. The increased salinity of the return flow meant Mexico complained to the USA that the water being delivered to them was too salty. In 1973 the United States agreed to correct the situation, primarily through the treatment of water at a desalination plant in Yuma. This image is from an old American amateur 35mm colour transparency. It will look soft and grainy if used at too large a size – a vintage 1950s photograph.