Overview

Completed in the spring of 1920, this pumping plant began delivering water to irrigation canals in Pasco, WA, by 06/1920. Water from the plant would irrigate approximately 7,000 acres of arable land around Pasco. All pipes used for the moving of water were composed of creosoted staves of wood reinforced by steel bands. In the East, pipes would have been constructed of iron or steel, but in the Pacific Northwest during this period, wood was the most plentiful and inexpensive building material.

Building History

An 1920 article in Engineering World described the Franklin County Irrigation District Pumping Plan, located on the left bank of the Columbia Rivert: "The pump house, built of reinforced concrete, not only encloses the pumps and motors, but serves as a bulkead to protect them from water at high stages of the river. The floor upon which this equipment resst is 10 to 12 ft. below high-water level. The station contains two Delaval centrifugal pumps, each of the capacity to deliver 10,000 g.p.m. through an 18-in. discharge. Each pump is driven by a 275-hp. direct-connected motor, energy for which being supplied from the lines of the Pacific Power & Light Co." (See W.A. Scott, "Electric Pumping and Wood-Pipe for Pasco Irrigation," Engineering World, vol. 17, no. 6, 12/1920, p. 393-394.)

PCAD id: 19551