The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-12-01
NORTH SEA CANAL.

The Latest Engineering Triurnphs.
The greatest feat in engineering since
the construction of the Suez canal was
brought to o successful termination
few days since in the completion of the
North Sea canal. As early as 1918, when
the fury of wind and river was filing
with sand banks the channel connecting
the Zuyder Zee with the North sea, the
merchants of Amsterdam foresaw that,
to save their city from the desolation
that has befallen the now dead cities of
the Zuyder, they must open an outlet to
the sea. A cut of but fifteen miles due
eastward would have connected them
with tide. water. 1t is true, there would
have been difficulty in establishing So
cure harbor at the sea entrance there,
but, as compared with the magnitude of
the whole undertaking, that difficulty
was inconsiderable. But, with that as
tonishing stupidity that can be born
only of provincial selfishness, the canal,
which William l., when the plans were
submitted to him, declared should be
cut on the route OF that just opened,
was run from Amsterdam to the Helder-
the main entrance to the Zuyder Zee
fifty miles. For time this North canal
served It's purpose-it took Amsterdam
to the sea. But it takes two days for
vessels by that route to reach the city
from the Helder the harbor there is
much of the time exceedingly difficult
to make, and the canal itself is too shall
low for navigation by the ships of this
era.
1t was these considerations that led to
the projection of the present canal in
1865, to again avert the peril there was
of Amsterdam's being cut off from the
sea. Since then the work has been
steadily pushed through, considering
the outlay, at what in this country would
be considered very slow gait, since the
entire cost of the canal has been but
f2, 900, 900, or about $40, 900, 600 in our
money. The first difficulty encountered
in the work was that the level of the
country, except for short distance, was
from twelve to twenty-seven feet below
sea-level, and, instead of digging a
channel to admit the water from the sea,
banks had to be piled up to prevent the
overflow of the country through which
it passed. This region-that is, what of
was it not covered by water-had been
reclaimed by dikes, and one of the OBJ
jects to be attained through the North
Sea canal was to drain entirely this in
land lake, thus reclaiming more land.
This has been done, and by pumping
out of the ancient lakes into the canal
already IL, 450 acres of land have been
reclaimed, some of which has been sold
as high as 9120-or $60c-per acre.
Three miles from the west coast the
route of the canal lay through the sand
dures, desert barrens covered with shift
ing sands, like those along the Suez
canal. The difficulty to be overcome
here, as in the Suez enterprise, was to
prevent the filling o. the canal with sand
drifts, and also to guard against the
washington of the banks by the waves
caused by the passage of vessels. To
accomplish this, as was done on the Suez
canal, the margin Of the canal was sown
with various plants, the matted roots of
which holds the soil together. and be
sides the banks were walled or lined with
artificial stone, gravel, broken brick,
and clay.
AS completed, the canal is fourteen
and three-quaiters miles long, has
breadth of eighty eight feet at the bot
tom and 217 at the surface, and will pass
vessels of twenty three feet draught.
While considerably shorter and trihe
shallower than the Suez, the North Sea
canal has been far more difficult of con-
struction, and relatively bids fair to be
of greater importance for it will main
tain the commercial supremacy of Am
sterdam even after the Zuyder Zee shall
have been dyked in and wholly drained,
as it is now proposed to do.