Historic Hood River
Stinky Old Pipes
Notes
Today’s story is about the City of The Dalles waterline. In 1870 the Dalles acquired water rights from Dog River (now in Hood River County). In 1873 they dug a ditch from Dog River (near Surveyor’s Ridge) to South Fork Mill Creek so they could get the water to the city. In 1913 the ditch was replaced with a buried aqueduct, which is what we see here. This is a 20″ diameter pipeline constructed from Douglas Fir staves, wired together with heavy galvanized steel wire and coated in heavy tar before being buried in the ditch.
The 110 year old pipeline was recently replaced, but these pieces show the ingenuity of the civil engineers of the era. These sections are machined to butt into the ell to the right. The joints look fully functional 111 years after they were constructed. If you look closely you can see globs of tar dripping off the pipeline in the summer heat. The odor was quite strong, though hopefully the contact between the tar and the water was minimal.
Dale Nicol
This is a prime example to show how skillful our forefathers were making/machining materials of all types.
The same is true when repairing/restoring old cars. You quickly understand and appreciate how well the parts were made and the tight tolerances obtained without the benefit of modern meteorology measuring equipment.
Thanks Arthur for sharing the photo and detailed explanation.
nels
One summer in the mid seventies HR was having a water shortage so it was an odd and even watering plan and no midday watering. But there was a perpetual wet spot in the middle of the street in front of the courthouse. They finally dug it up and found wooden water pipes. Sort of like the two wet spots midstreet on Hospital Hill now about where Sherman St. merges.
Pat A
The September 1891 fire that burned some 20 blocks in The Dalles made a modern water system most important.
Watershed improvements and the construction of the 14 street reservoir. I and my coworkers would do a little batting practice, at lunch down in the bottom of the old reservoir. The steep walls made a great ball return
Those stinky pipes were slated for replacement 20ish years ago. And outlasted all of the open (uncovered) water reservoirs in The Dalles.
Arthur Babitz
One of the issues which came up during the environmental review process for the replacement pipeline was that leaks from the old wood pipes had created wetland habitat along the route. I’m not sure how they addressed that, but I hope the new pipes serve as long as the old ones did.
L. E.
As Dale says, it is amazing the ingenuity of our forefathers. I remember when a water line made from fir bark was discovered in my community. It was no longer in use, but it had held up amazingly well.
Thanks for the photo.