, 1863-03-14
THE WELI,AND CANAL,
PLAN FOR IT'S ENLARGEMENT,
Letter from Vim. Gooding, Esq.


Civil Engineer" {not Riuas, Us you have print
ed 1t j showing that the estimates Of the "Ot-
tawa Ship Canal" which hayo been presented
to the public, are not very reliable. Mr. Tul1y
writes very sehsibly, and, although am en-
tirely unacquainted with either him or the
route Of the proposed canal, I am inclined to
think that his statements are, in the main,
correct.
In Jour editorial notice OF this article you
remark as follows:
s'As citizens Of tile Northwest 1t does not
"bccome us to take sides in the discussion
"now sure to become active In Canada, as to
"the merits Of the Georgian Bay and the
"Ot&awa routes for ship canal between the
"great Lakes and the Ocean. \
s4That the Georgian Bay route has several
simportant advantages oTcr its competitor
"must be admitted BY all who have compared
'ttho two routes. It lies from one to two de-
"grees further south, and, therefore, nayiga-
ton on It would continue two, perhaps four
"weeks longer than By the more northern
"route. There would be 430 miles of close nav
legation on the Ottawa, where sails would be
''nearly useless, while there are but seventy
"seven miles Of cana1 and lAke.water nayica-
''tion between the Georgian Bay and To-
tronto."
Your remarks have my full endorsement, if
TINT is worth anything. But your editorial
and Mr. Tully's communication seem to as
sumo that either the Ottawa or Georgian Bay
route must necessarily be adopted By our Can
4dtan ncighbor6, il 4 ship canal be needed at
ALL With due Difference for your opinions
limit think I fnT11, mis- ftnl-n 1nrnr
majority Of the citizens Of Canada, not locally
interested In any line, will decide, without
hesitation, on an enlargement Of the Welland
Canal.
am aware that the other two routes appear
| much the best-on the map. The distance
from Chicago to Quebec is represented in
Colonel R. B. Mason's report on the Georgian
| Bay Canal, to be ~ miles shorter By the
| Ottawa, and ESQ miles shorter by the Gcorg-
ian Bay, than by the Welland Canal route.
But, in n question SO important as this to
the Northwest, it il certainly proper that We
compare the relative advantages and disad-
Tantages Of the respective routes; aud nc may
I reEt assured that our Canadian friends will
thoroughly investigate the matter for them
! selves before the first blow is struck. Mr..
| Tully aud you, Messrs. Editors, have clearly
| pointed out some Of the disadvantages of the
Ottawa route, and I will take the liberty Of
| pointing out few Of the objections to the
Georgian Bay project, which, with me, hare
| EUluE HE1EuL.
| Several routes were surveyed by Mr.. Tully,
hut No. was recommended BY Col. Mason
as decidedly the best, as it doubtless Is, and
shall therefore confne my remarks to that.
l. The deep cuts. The report OF Col. Mason
says, mo work Of q difficult character pre-
"sents itself until We reach the summit level;
There we encounter cut Of nearly 200 feet
aat the deepest point, averaging about 10 feet
"for NEARLY ten miles. This is probably a
'larger and more extensive cnt than Inns ever
"before been encountered on any public work,
I" but the examinations, SO far as made, do not
"tion.''
This is one Of tue deep cuts. Another is
thus mentioned:
''Thc cut between Lake simcoe and the
"Nottawasago river, averages about 50 feet for
.'s.veral miles, but there is nothing thai in
- nidablc."
Mr.. Tully, in his report says that this exca-
! ya1ion, {cut No. !, "bcing composed MS far
is can u conjccturcd, Of liz Int clay and gravel,
Will not cost more than twenty-five cents per
yard"
He says of the other deep cut extending
from section No. to No. 6, there will be !
deep evacuation averaging fifty feet, the great
est depth ut section No. being seyenty-eight
feet, and containing a little over {, 900 200 Gu
the total cost Of which would be 81, ,500, ,000L
the material to be e1cayated being OF the
same quality as described in the leeH cxcava-
ton in the ridges, as far as can be judged from
geological data and other indications."
l,aye quoted what Mr., Tully says In rela-
show that nothing had been determined about
it, that it was all 7sconjecture.' Il
But admitting, improbable MS 1t is, that
this excavation IS all composed Of "light clay
and gravel will any engineer or contractor
who has had experience In any kind Of deep
earth cutting, believe TINT 1t can be executed
at twenty-five cents per Tar1?
II 1t can, or for even double the price, It
will be cheaper work than hnye ever known
or heard Of in America.
than TWO miles In length, averaging say forty
six feet deep, and rising nowhere above fifty
live feet, proved almost an insnrmountable
obstacle, and caused an entire change Of plan.
10 be sure, some veins Of quick-sand were
struck, but it would be strange, indeed, II
none were found in such cuts as those above
described. Even If money enough should he
| expended to complete the exClyation-and
DO engineer can do more than mnke rough
guess nj what It would cost-it would he next
season Of navigation at all times in a nayiga.
BILE condition. The slopes in cut Of two
hundred, or eyen ninety feet, would
present such surface that every considerable
min would deposit enough earth in the bot
tom to wholly obstruet Or greatly impede
shonld extensive veins Of quick sand at
great depths be encounf cred, which may well
be feared, the route would, in all probability,
be abandoned, though millions Ind been pre-
yipusly expended.
2. The 1ockagc, The whole amount Of lock.
age on the route Is represented by Mr.. Tnlly
to be 40 feet from Lake Ontario to Lake Sim.
coc, and $50 feet from this level to Lake Hu.
ron, or 600 feet in all. This is 371 feet more
than is required on the Wcl1and route, o,
1 r. ri dNftH Hf1$ $f@nr
amount Of lockage, the greater tito Inability
Of interruptions to the navigation, besides
the additional delay Of passing the locks.
8. Length of canal. In Col. atason's report
the whole distance from Lake Huron to Lake
Ontario is called canal, and the distance 10O
tanee across Lake s1mcoe and the slackwate.
navigation would reduce the distance Of ac.
| tual canal to about 90 miles" The "ac!ual
canal, y therefore, is more than tWice as long
as the Wel1and Canal
! =; For large extent Of country bordering
on Lake Erie and south Of 1t, this route would
not be as short Us that by the Welland.
;: The cost Of the Georgian Bay Canal, rs
estimated by Mr. Tully, would be 81, 10, 7550,
and the character Of the work is such that 1t
would probably fake long series of years to
execnse 1t. Il, however, the cost Of constrnc-
ting this canal has not been estimated far too
low, an awful blunder has unquestIonablv
been committed In estimating the cost Of tile
enlargement Of the Illinois aid Michigan ca.
nal, and the improvement Of the Illinois River,
upon the plan proposed By the bill recently
defeated in Congress. The earth excavation,
say from Chicago River to Summit, which
does not exceed eighteen feet in depth, aud
has been tested to bottom, SO that It's chayac.
ter Is well understood has been estimated at
twenty-five cents per yard-thc same price at
which Mr. Tul1y has estimated tn unknown
material, ninety-feet In depth, on an average
But then, he estimates the other deep cut.
which ts only fifty feet in depth. at e1actly the
SAME price. In this country, an extra depth
Of forty feet would add something to the cost.
Having already extended my communica.
tion beyond the limits Intended, shall say
but little about the Welland Canal route, and
| this not ut all for the benefit Of our Canadian
friends, {Eho will doubtless understand their
own bnsincss,) but for those who have given
/ the subject no attention.
miles long from Port Colborne, on Lake Erie,
10 Port Da1houeie, On Lake Ontario.
g The difference Of level between Lakes
Eric and Ontario is $50 feet, and full SUNNY
Of water would be drawn from Lake Erie.
| =. The work could be completed in q much
shorter. time than either Of the other lInes.
and without Interfering with the navigation Of
| i. The canal, enlarged to the proper capaci-
II, would accommodate the eufire commerce
Of the upper lakes, Including Lake Erie.
5. The cost Of making the canal of the ne
| cessary capacity, with double locks, or one
series Of locks entirely separate from those
already constructed, and Of the largest size,
| wonld not, probably, exceed s7,5Oo,o0o or
! S,ceo, goo. think that Mr. Shauly's esti-
| mate Of d ship canal or side cut from Thorold
10 NiagaEa, eleven miles, embracing al the
lockage, was about 4,OO0, COO, and t6c whole
cost would not, should think be doub1e this