ABSTRACT for 2023 EWRI Congress Water Supply to the Washoe Mines: The Marlette Lake Water System Charles Spinks, P.E., M. ASCE 11375 Pickle Barrel Road, Auburn, CA 95602 Chuck.spinks@outlook.com
Since the first mining of silver in the Washoe Mountains of Utah Territory in 1859, water was a precious commodity. Initially it was obtained from natural springs and tunnels dug into the sides of the mountains above Virginia City and Gold Hill. But the mines required huge amounts of water that couldn’t be supplied by the springs. In October, 1871, civil engineer Hermann Schussler prepared a report for the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company which proposed a 7-mile-long 12-inch riveted wrought iron pipeline from high in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe to discharge in a flume that fed a storage reservoir near Virginia City. The pressure head at the lowest point in the pipeline was 1,887 feet, the highest in the world at that time. The pipe fabrication started in March, 1873, and the project was completed in August, 1873. A second pipeline and a 3,994-foot tunnel were added in 1875. The tunnel connected to Marlette Lake through a 4.4-mile flume. The Marlette Lake Water System was dedicated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1975, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
