Fossil Creek and its springs provided an ideal power source for a hydroelectric plant, with a constant flow of over one million gallons an hour and a 160-foot drop in less than 10 miles that could turn large turbines connected to electric generators. The same steep terrain that favored power generation created enormous construction challenges. A first task was building a wagon road from the railhead at Meyer, Arizona, to the Childs and Irving powerhouses, using approximately 600 men, 150 wagons, and 400 mules to haul material. The road was about 40 miles long and so rough that a loaded wagon needed 5 to 6 days to cross it, preventing transport of long loads such as water pipe and power poles. In response, most flumes and piping were built on site, and because the terrain prohibited the use of wood and ditches typical elsewhere, they were made from concrete mixed in wagon beds and poured in place. The completed system included many thousands of feet of concrete flumes, concrete-lined tunnels, and concrete pipe, with about 120 to 150 linear feet of flume built in a day. Water pressure entering the turbines was so great that the necessary steel pipe had to be imported from Germany because no source was available in the United States. Engineers also solved the problem of transporting long timbers for transmission lines by using towers from pre-fabricated metal windmills, and about 700 were hauled in and assembled on site without the windmill portion. The completion of the Childs plant, which began delivering power only seven years after road construction started, reflected the professionalism of the engineers and the dedication of the construction crews who overcame these enormous challenges.