Johnnie St. Vrain: What's that curious-looking cube?
Sep. 4—Dear Johnnie: I passed an object the other day on the side of East County Line Road, about a tenth-mile south of Weld County Road 16 1/2 . It was a cube, about 3 feet on a side, with what might be the markings of an ancient civilization. Am I right? — Curious
Dear Curious: Agreed. That object, when seen from a passing vehicle traveling at 50 mph, looks like it could be a miniature monument. Maybe an ancient monument. Or perhaps a marker along a trail in the 19th century.
To a person standing on the other side of the fence, however, that concrete box looks to be about 5 to 6 feet on each side, and perhaps a monument to irrigation, with several large pipes connected to its lower half.
I checked with the owner of the property, Fischer Construction, which — as it turns out — specializes in water and wastewater treatment facilities. I thought that maybe this box had something to do with a water treatment facility. Sarah Day got back to me with an answer.
"It is an irrigation control box to distribute irrigation water to various parts of the property," she said in an email.
Water can be delivered to the box from one pipe and be distributed through one or more other pipes that connect to the box.
There you have it, Curious. That interesting-looking cube has more to do with hydrology than archeology.
