Childs-Irving Hydroelectric Project, Irving System, Inverted Siphon, Forest Service Road 708/502, Camp Verde

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-65-D. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Between February and August Arizona Public Service (APS) and SWCA Environmental Consultants documented the hydroelectric complex, under guidance of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). Project managers Phil Smithers (APS) and Linda Martin (SWCA) coordinated historian Steely, photographer Jessica Maggio, and draftsman Hanson Todachine to complete the HAER documentation. Archives for the Childs-Irving Hydroelectric Project are at APS in Phoenix, Arizona. CHILDS-IRVING HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT, IRVING SYSTEM: INVERTED SIPHON HAER No.

AZ-65-D (Page 2) Historic and Engineering Context: The Childs-Irving Hydroelectric Project encompassed a unique system-according to engineering historians evaluating the historic complex since 1976--that 1) was constructed with great effort in an extremely remote landscape, 2) captured a natural water source and followed dramatic topography, 3) generated electric power in a remarkably simple and efficient manner, and 4) operated continuously for 95 years.

In addition to its individual significance nationwide, the Childs-Irving Hydroelectric Project is a classic part of Arizona history spanning the century: remote low-grade mining operations sought reliable and less-expensive energy; a combination of investors, entrepreneurs and engineers modified a natural resource to supply the energy; cutting-edge technology entered a harsh and remote landscape; an isolated labor force merged those with skills learned far away with local residents, including Native Americans with traditional ties to the land; nearby communities soon offered an additional customer base; farmers and irrigation cooperatives became major consumers for their pumps and agricultural machinery; distant metropolitan areas boomed by tapping the energy source; and finally a conservative operational approach to investment and maintenance retained aging technology within a huge modem power grid for many, many years past a reasonable retirement.

Character Defining Attributes Component/Feature No.9 on National Register form. The inverted siphon crossed Hot Water (or White) Canyon and is 434 feet in length. The elevation of the siphon intake was feet; water droped in the siphon pipe to a low point of feet, for a drop of feet, and was raised back to feet for a net elevation change of feet along a hydraulic grade of siphon feet. The siphon was composed of riveted steel pipe of two different diameters; feet of the siphon, at either end, are 44-inch diameter pipe while the middle part feet) was made of 40-inch diameter pipe. A steel bridge consisting of a series of seven panels and supported by concrete bases carried the siphon pipe for 69 feet across the canyon at the lowest point in the siphon.

(Effland and Macnider Bibliography Effland, Richard W., and Barbara S. Macnider Childs-Irving Hydroelectric Facilities. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Washington, Neal, and Linda Martin Childs/Irving Hydroelectric Decommissioning Project, Historic Properties Management Plan Prepared for APS/Generation Engineering. SWCA Environmental Consultants. Flagstaff. CHILDS-IRVING HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT, IRVING SYSTEM: INVERTED SIPHON HAER No. AZ-65-D (Page 3) APS Photo Library Additional Bibliography Arizona Public Service (APS) Archives Historic photograph collection. Historic drawings collection. Historic documents collection. Available through appointment at: APS, P.O.

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