Will Walter C. Lyman's Dream Come True?
The tunnel started, stopped, and restarted many times. The biggest problem
was finances, but a lot had to do with the attitude of the town and the
workers. The tunnel was initiated around 1920, but was given up soon after
because there was not money. It was revived again about 1940. This time
they completed about 1400 feet before funds ran out. At this time, the
Utah Power Board provided funds to help develop irrigation projects. The
(Building a One
Mile Long Tunnel) irrigation
company applied for a loan of $75,000. The company wanted to buy out anyone
who had stock in the tunnel through the mountain.
 |
| Vet Bradford in front of shop at the Blanding tunnel
on Blue Mountain. Bradford kept the work going on both ends of the
tunnel. - Donated to the San Juan Historical Society by Thora Bradford
(Blanding, UT) in 1989. |
Walter C. Lyman had taken Vet Bradford
to the mountain and showed him the markers for the tunnel before his death
in 1943. Lyman's son Marvin wanted
to see his father's dream of the tunnel being completed so he and Vet,
and local construction workers, took out a contract to dig through. Because
of hard rock and money, they were forced to give up for a while. However,
they wanted to see it completed, so they later took out another contract
to finish the tunnel. Both men put all the money they had into the project
and financially were doing badly, while most of the people in Blanding
were making more money than ever before. Most of the men working for them
quit because they could make more money working somewhere else. The men
who stayed did so because they wanted to help rather than get rich. Despite
these problems, Bradford kept the work going on both ends of the tunnel.
"Whenever I thought of the project, it seemed insurmountable, but I knew
what would be accomplished was what was attempted and I concentrated on
one day's work at a time." (Bradford and Winder 117) Marvin handled the
finances while Vet and his crew built the tunnel.
Blasting Through the Tunnel
To get through the tunnel, they used both blasting
and drilling. This is the procedure used.
"To blast through the tunnel, they went in with what was
called a round. They drilled back in about six feet, then loaded the thing
with powder, and when they were ready to shoot them, they shot the one
they wanted to pull first because then the other ones would put to it.
Then they would light the fuse and get out fast before it would go off.
Then after they had gone off, they would have to wait several hours before
they could go back in the tunnel to work."
 |
South entrance of Blanding tunnel. On the
right side of the tunnel is an air vent pipe that forced fresh air into
the tunnel to clean out the smoke after the dynamite blasts. The shop is
on the left side.
- Kay and LaRae Bradford photo. |
They finally put a pipeline in so they could blow air and blow the smoke
out. After they did this, they could go back in the tunnel in about
an hour. They had carts
with railroad wheels that they would haul the rubble in and they dumped
it in the dump.
Living Next Door to a Tunnel
In order for the tunnel to get finished, the men had to live on the site.
While they were working on the ditch, they camped in a small trailer where
there used to be a ranger station. When they worked on the tunnel, they
built two or three cabins and lived there
all the time. Often they did not even come down on weekends because of
lack of transportation. (Black)
The Last Time and Finally . . . the Breakthrough
After the tunnel was worked on again for the last time, it took them about
two years to get finished. With 4300 feet dug out the south sides and 1100
feet on the north side of the tunnel, they were very close to breaking
through (A Christmas Present) .
The two sides of the tunnel had passed each other by about two feet, so
they could tell that they were close enough to each other that they just
had to drill the two feet to meet. When it finally broke on December 27,
1951, there were many tears of joy. Cleal Bradford described it this way.
"Fifty years of thirst for their home folks and friends
were ended, forty years of doubt and faith in the water being available,
and thirty years of struggle to obtain it, the job was done." (Bradford
and Winder 208.)
Not Finished Yet
As soon as possible in the spring of 1952, the men were back on the job.
Some things had to be taken care of, such as relocating the ditch on the
north side, before the water could be turned into the tunnel. On June 24,
1952, the water was turned into the
hole in the mountain and was on its way to the mesa. (Palmer 2-6)
On June 24, 1952, they turned the water in from the north. Vet Bradford
was crawling through the tunnel and had to get out the south side. He was
upset because he didn't get to see the water go through, after he had diligently
worked on the tunnel for so long. Ash Harris was president of the ditch
company and was anxious to see the water go through the tunnel. He was
not thinking about who was there and who wasn't when he turned it through.
The Irrigation Company owned 52 feet of water on the south side of the
mountain. Whatever came through the tunnel they got. The city then bought
two second feet of water on the north side of the tunnel after it was finished.
This allowed Blanding to have the water that was available from the north
side of the mountain. This gave the town enough water that it wasn't necessary
for them to haul it.
The Blanding Tunnel is Worth the Sacrifice
Today Blanding's main source of water comes from the tunnel and the winter
local water shed. In the spring thaw, it comes from the south side
of the mountain and fills the 3rd and 4th reservoirs.
Left: Third Reservoir
Right: Fourth Reservoir looking east
In the spring thaw, Blanding's main source of water comes from the
south side of the mountain, goes through the tunnel, and fills the 3rd
and 4th reservoirs. - Photo taken by Kristina Long, 1997. |
There's also Johnson Creek which
runs through all year round. The tunnel project took thirty years to complete.
It was a little over 5,400 feet long and is reported to have cost $125,000.
"There's been lots of money spent there, but its a nice stream of water
that comes through there all the time. It's what saves this town," stated
Frost Black. (Black)
Marcia Black is now attending Southern University of Utah. She completed
this article as a junior at San Juan High School, Blanding, Utah, on February
1, 1991.
Works Cited:
Black, O. Frost. interviewed by Marcia Black, December 26, 1990.
Bradford, Cleal and Winder, Terri B. We'll Walk Through the Mountain,
Shumway Family History Services, 1986.
Gregory, Herbert E. The San Juan County, United States Government
Printing Office, Washington: 1938.
Lyman, Albert R. The Edge of the Cedars, Colton Press, New York.
Palmer, Preston The Blanding Tunnel Project, San Juan Collection,
San Juan High School.
Perkins, Cornelia A. and Nielson, Marian. Saga of San Juan, San
Juan County Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1957.
Return to Table of Contents
Last Updated July 10, 1997 by Janet
Wilcox
