IRRIGATION FACILITY RELOCATIONS ALONG THE STATE ROUTE 85 CORRIDOR

摘要

In 1999 the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) began improvements alongrnthe State Route 85 (SR85) corridor between Gila Bend and Interstate 10 (I-10). At therntime SR85 was a two-lane highway that carried a large volume of truck traffic betweenrnInterstate 8 near Gila Bend and Phoenix. The SR85 roadway improvements project isrnbroken into phases. The first phase includes the construction of frontage roads and usingrnthese roads as a divided highway. Once the divided highway has been completed, thernfinal freeway cross section will be constructed between the frontage roads. The projectrnimpacted existing irrigation facilities for three irrigation districts located between the GilarnRiver and I-10, the Arlington Canal Company, Buckeye Water Conservation andrnDrainage District (BWCDD) and Roosevelt Irrigation District (RID).rnThe roadway improvements impact three main canals, turnouts from the main canal, mainrncanal check structures, delivery structures, laterals, groundwater wells and tailwaterrncollection systems. Three miles of irrigation facilities relocations were completed inrnvarious phases between 1999 and 2006. Total construction cost as of March 2008 isrnabout $9.4 million. The remaining one mile of relocations is to be completed during thernlater part of 2007 and early 2008.rnIn this paper we will present the institutional and functional constraints to infrastructurernmodernization in an urbanizing area with historic irrigated agriculture. This process wasrncomplicated by the need to continue to operate the irrigation delivery facilities on anrnalmost year-round basis.