The Greenville enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1870-1873, 1871-01-11
The Nount cenis Tunnel

as that the Mount Ocnis tunnel, one,
ofthc most tremendous engineer
ing fests 1T the age, would soon be
completed. 1t is an international
work, undertaken joirrtly bys.tlie
Frencifahd italian goterhinents /;
and the fact that the French are
inst now occupied in. a task win
thcir German nGigh bofs, more 'dif.
ficnlt ever. Than the boring Of the
Mount Cenis tunnel, led us to snp.
pose that the latter enterprise
would be neglected, or at least re.
tarded. Its completion in the midst
OF q great war that. would seein to
exact an, the, resources that the
French have at command is an i'm
,pressive proof Of the in,minent i'm. !
portance that this age attaches to,
works Of cheap inter comInnniea
ti6n. -, IN ,nA, ,,,ss- 49,. :
u The Mount Gems tunnel, whose
cesnpletioni we now: witness, has
boon before the eyes uf the world
tprtlirteen years, is not on the line;
OF apy railroad, and Is not a part,
we have stated. n yreat 'trnnel be.
tween France and Italv" drilled.
through three peaks of. the Save
/ Alps. Colonel de Fre;us AMI
Vallon and de In sRo1e and m
fact, has no connection w;th Mnnnt,
Gents. seventeen miles 'distan,
whose name 10 hears Refore .tbn
,beS;nuinpr ,ofatbs ForkJ ,bo,a ware
not wahtin1 ENGINEERS Of L;mi,
standing and rennfalion wbo .raye.
" declared that the undertakino
wouldsprovc n fa;inre-tbat tIe
workmen would ner;sI, b,,sf;rss, NO
ter or nSooX;ons oases andFthat a1,
sorts Of 'insnrmountabie obstacles
would meet them as thew annroacI
ed the heart of the monn,a!ns In
spi,e of all these racine .nro
tessional predictions, the Sor. Was
begun in'1 s5Y. andsstead;lr nrose.
cuted for fonr yesrs. when the ner.
forators wen @ called ;"..,,-.-yS,1fsI.
,;c. 40
The usual method of sinking
shafts along the line of the propos-
ed tunnel, and working through
from one to the other, was not ap-
piicable to this work, on account
OF the great height of the monn-
ram. ihe only feasible plan was
to begin boring both ends, ard
c"ntinne it steadily until the OPP
posite drills should meet and give
a complete aperture. This made
itsdifticult to 'snpplyth workmen
with sufficient quantity Of fresh
air at q distance OF two or three
miles tromthes entrances. To over
come, this, a smacIine that was q
perforator and air pump combined
was devised, which moved 10y air
compressed to one sixth its usual
bulk. A portion Of this was
conveyed into the tunnel, and
released for the consumption
OF the workmen, and another
portion was applied directly to
the drili-1wlpch bored into the
mountain at the average rate of
nine teet.a day. Hen perforators
were kept constantly at work. The
motive power was conveyed othe
drill by a flexible pipe, throwing
the compressed air into a cylinder,
IN winch worked a piston,driving
the drH' into the face OF the rock.
ihe drill mado two hundred re.
vointions a minute, each having a
stroke OF two hundred pounds
me'g"s. Lne nalues. % substance II
mo".,e, e,,os, ..so, iu was ;. Mnl'e quar- anu
s,rt,y . 'vNu onn,',. aa'nss 81 ,',is oiSnglit
Cd No S1, 'rk =, ~ rala,Ts sparSs = shaG culs
Gf fre ,,. & o'I.e y, .I,o I., . u,splay
a W.. No ~ VIC M ,iafN cavern
wup's%In sIa ,1r o'aslihg,
[ d,;,I, aa % "o.eS, .niee ieet y.
d;da % a' w. VI .n.ee ineIes 10
'o' dr;,I VIZ Goteu WIN tue
H.. m.