Litchfield enquirer., 1874-03-12
From The N. '. Observer. PUBLIC WORKS IN HOLLAND.

In my former letter referred to some of the great public works of Holland. There are other and grander examples oi the enterprise and public spirit of its peo. pie. fs'f
 In the sixteenth century, Amsterdam was the most hourishing commercial city on the continent of Europe By looking at the map 1t will be seen that its natural connection with the coast IS through the Zuyder Zee, which runs north about fifty
 one miles to the North Sea. The city is about twenty miles directly east from the North Sea. In 1919 the navigation of Zuyder Zee lad become so difficult or account of the sitting up, head winds and
 numefous sand bars, that Amsterdam be-
 gan to lose her prestige as commercial city.
 Between 1919 and 1924 new ship canal
 called the North Holland Canal was con structed, running from Amsterdam Har-
 Dor. which is on an arm of the Zuyder Zee, (called J j, and pronounced 1) north about fifty miles to a natural harbor on the North Sea called the Fielder. It was one hundred and twenty-four feet wide and eighteen feet deep. The great sea gates at the Helder are noble specimens of engineering and masonry. This canal when it was built was one of the grandest public works in the world. But 1t is found that its depth is not sufficient fol the largest sea-going vessels. They are from eighteen to twenty-four hours in be- ing lowed through and ihe canal is ob structed with ice in the winter. Under these disabilities Amsterdam was still steadily losing it's commerce. Her mer- chants have seen for many years that noth- ing will restore 1t but more direct connec- tion with the ocean by means of canal of sufficient dimensions to admit the largest ship. This was a colossal under taking, for by referring again to the map it will be seen that there is no harbor on the shore of the North Sea directly west of Amesterdam.
 It is bleak, exposed and stormy coast. without a headland or break for hun dreds of miles; and it would seem impos- ible here to construct a harbor which would defy the combined power of the winds and waves of the open sea.
 Again, the canal must be constructed through the arm of the Zuyder Zee called the J j. But they conceived the idea of draining this vast body of water covering 12, ,50O acres, and recovering the land at the same time that they constructed the canal. It was also found that if they could lower the level of the Y, they would have so much less of enbankment on each side to build through the same, and as the is the natural reservior for draining all the country around it, the land must be kept on low level so as to be a recip- ient of all surface water.
 How should the level of the Y and the o9 A T. s11 they were connected with the Zuyder Zee and the ocean? The engineers met th1s by proposing dam across the Y at it's debouche into the Zuyder Zee, four miles east of Amsterdam, This dam was to be one mile long. Locks were to be built in it to pass the great inland traf- fic of the Zuyder Zee to the harbor to Am sterdam. The water of the canal and the harbor of Amsterdam were, by means of immense pumps, to be kept three feet lower than the Zuyder Zee; thus giving bet ter drainage to all the adjacent country. Such were the great difficulties to be over come: First an artificial harbor on the ocean; second, the draining of an inland sea: third, the dyainipgg E. ont II the .b Zydsr up land and raising banks to 1t on either
 
 But the Dutch were not to be intimidat- ed by these difficulties. A corporation was formed in 1865. Government lent it's helping hand by guaranteeing bonds to the amount of $6, OO0, ,OOO. The stock to the amount of $25, ,00O, 900 was taken. The whole work will be completed in 1876. The canal is to be seventeen miles long, three hundred feet wide, and twenty-eight feet deep. Unexpected difficulties of every kind have been met and surmounted by courage and skill. The dam across the Y has given away three times, on account of the sinking of the foundations. The locks in this dam are built on piles driven one hundred feet deep. Through the Y the canal is built by dredging out the channel, mixing the earth with water and forcing the material through flexible pipes to the where it is discharged and sinks to the bottom. Thus, gradually, the banks of the canal rise and solidify until they reach the top of the water. The canal is now nearly finished to the sea. Im- mense steam pumps have been erected along the banks at intervals, which are engaged night and day in pumping the waters of the outside of the canal em- bankments into the canal, from whence, at low tide it flows into the sea.
 Thousands of acres have already been lying below the level of the canal from five to ten feet. The lands thus drained are called peddlers. As soon as they are sufficiently dry they are sowed the first year with mustard or rape seed. This crop keeps out noxious weeds and prepares the soil the second year for grass or grain. The peddlers are divided off into small farms of a few acres each, by canals and rows of trees, with cottages exactly similar on each. The farms are then sold or rented. The land of the peddlers is exceedingly fertile, having the advantage of artificial drain age in wet weather and the best means of irrigation in a dry season. The lands thus reclaimed by this Company will be worth $8,OOO, 900. The harbor of the North Sea Canal is the grandest and most two piers extending about one mile into the North Sea, approaching each other as they advance from the shore. The shore ends of the piers are about 4,000 feet apart, and at the mouth of the harbor 860 feet apart. They are laid in water thirty feet deep, and rise above the aver age WateT 16V01 GnlftCc0 10OG. 1uGS0 pl0TS are laid on foundation one hundred feet wide, of loose basalt rock thrown loosely on the bottom of the ocean. The con- crete blocks under water are laid in courses on this basalt by divers. Above low water mark the blocks are laid in ce- ment with close joints, and the more ex- posed are fastened together by iron an- chor ties. The blocks of which the piers are built are thirteen feet long, three and a half feet high, and four feet inbreadth, weighing ten tons each. So severe are the storms to which these piers are ex- posed even some of these immense blocks, clamped together by iron, have been wrenched asunder and swept away into the harbor. These piers are about twenty three feet broad on the top and thirty feet at their base. They are now nearly completed. They enclose an area of 250 acres. But the labor does not end here. The whole harbor is now to be dredged to the depth of thirty feet, and the material carried away. The locks separating the harbor from the canal are most magnificent pieces of masonry. At hifyh water khe soa is fen feet ahOye the