Colorado’s Historic Hanging Flume is an Architectural Enigma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYRiYG3BMgE

Because of Colorado's rich history of mining, a lot of ghost towns, ruins, abandoned mines, and other reminders of the past still linger over a century later. However, one of these places is unique in that not only is much of it still standing, but the method by which it was built in the first place remains a bit of a mystery.

What is Colorado's Historic Hanging Flume?

Located outside of the extinct town of Uravan, the Hanging Flume was built along the side of a cliff overlooking the Dolores River in 1887 as a means to control the water flow for ideal gold mining conditions. The project was led by Prussian immigrant John Christion, as well as an estimated 24 Asian immigrants.

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While the project was completed in roughly three years, it proved to be a much less fruitful endeavor than planned as it only operated for three subsequent years before being abandoned.

In all, the flume ended up being 12 miles in length, secured 75 feet above the river using iron rods that were somehow drilled into the sandstone.

It's also been said that the workers were tasked with hauling timbers from Ponderosa Pine as far as 20 miles, and were likely suspended by ropes to build the flume directly into the side of the mountain.

However, much of the means of construction of the flume remains a mystery as many claim that the surveying equipment necessary to install the flume so precisely did not exist at the time.

Keep scrolling to check out this architectural enigma as it stands today: