Letter to W. H. Bancroft and J. Ross Clark, May 18, 1908

Las Vegas Pipe Line: 613 Mr. V. H. Bancroft, 1st Vice President, Mr. J. Ross Clark, 2nd Vice President, Special Committee: Dear Sirs:- As instructed by Mr. Clark in his letter of Hay 8th, 1908, File #59-PP, I have inspected the pipe line supplying water from the springs to the tank in Las Vegas yard. I had the pipe uncovered in twenty-five or more places, including ten places where it had been leaking recently the leaks being lately repaired. I found that the asphaltum covering on the pipe, from tome cause not apparent, had lost its adhesiveness and in places it had peeled off from the pipe leaving the metal subject to attack from moisture and corrosive salts in the soil which eats through the thin walls of the pipe in a few months. The asphalt appears to have lost by volatilization or other cause all the oil content which made it elastic and adhesive, leaving it brittle and untenacious and possibly porous. After a few months' exposure to the corrosive moisture in the soil, small holes no larger than pin points are rusted through the pipe, which holes increase in diameter as rusting continues. There seems to be no practicable way of preparing the asphalt so it will retain its adhesive qualities, nor is it practicable to uncover the whole pipe, scrape it free from rust and apply another coat of asphalt. Practically all the leaks in the pipe line between the tank and the reservoir are embraced in a section of lees than a mile, beginning a quarter of a mile above the tank and ending about the same distance below the point where the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad track crosses it. In this stretch there have, within the last six months, occurred about 27 leaks varying in size from the dia- meter of a pin to that of a lead pencil, and in one instance to three quarters of an inch in diameter. Of these 27 leaks, ten were included in a space of four feet in one joint of pipe, and six in a apace of three feet in another joint. The leaks have all been stopped, either by plugging with wooden plug* or Special Committee - 5/18/08 - File 613. by putting sheet rubber over the leaks, covering which sheet- iron bands were put on and screwed down tightly. In two instan- ces a good job has not been done and the pipe is still leaking there, discharging possibly five hundred gallons of water a day at an outside estimate. The repairs that have been made to the pipe between the tank and reservoir, during the past six months, have not cost more than fifty dollars. Generally speaking, the condition of the pipe line is still fairly good and I an of the opinion that, with occa- sional small repairs in the way of stopping new leaks resulting from rust holes, and possibly the occasional substitution of a new length of pipe, from the stock on hand, when one of the present lengths becomes too much decayed for service, the line can be depended upon for at least one year longer and probably for a considerable length of time beyond that, and the cost of making repairs will be snail. Therefore I would not recommend putting in a new pipe line at this time. There is no danger of the pipe suddenly giving way and cutting off the supply of water to the tank if reasonable watchfulness over the line is exercised. The line should be inspected by the water service foreman every fortnight or month and all leaks found should be stopped. The waste from a half a dozen small leaks would be insignificant compared with the water which is delivered by the pipe and would probably not exceed 5000 gallons daily and possibly not half that amount. Yours truly, 3GT/s