The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1876-12-01
The --latest Engineering Tliuaph.

AhD 4@hteet Engineering III lpn.
The greatest feat in eu.ineering
since the construction Of the Suez Ca
nal was brought To- successful termin-
alton few days since in the compile
ton II the North Sea Canal A. early
as 1919, when the fury Of wind and riy-
er was filling with sand-bauks he chan
mel connecting the Zuyder Zee with the
North Sea, the merchants II Amster-
dam fOresaw that, 20 save their city from
the desolatiOn that has Defalien the now
dead cities Of the Zuyaer, they must
open an outlet 90 the sea A cut II but
ID miles due eastward would have con-
nected them with Underwater. 10 /. true
there would have been difficulty In es-
taDlishing a secure harbor 10 the sea
entrance there, but, as compared
with the magnitude II the
whole undertaking, that difficulty
was inconsiderable. But, with that
astonishing stupidity that can Toe born
only Of provincial selishness. the canal.
which William l., when the plans were
submitted 10 him, declared should be
cut on the route OF that Just opened,
was run from Amsterdam tothe Helder
the main entrance 20 the Zul der Zee
fifty miles. FOR time this North
Canal served It's purpose-it took AM
sterdam to the sea. But II takes two
days for vessels By that route 10 reach
the city from the Helder; the harbor
there is much Of the time exceedingly
difficult % make, and the canal itself Is
too shallow for navigation by the ships
OF this era.
IL was these considerations that led
70 the projection Of the present canal
in 1858, % again avert tie peril there
was OF Amsterdam's being cut of from
the sea. Since then the work has been
steadily pushed through, considering
the outlay, at what in this country would
be considered a very slow gait, since
the entire cost Of the canal has been
bat E2,0O0,OO0, or about $1,000. 900 in
our money. The first difficulty encoun-
tered in the work was that the level of
the country, except for a short
distance, was from twelve 10 twen-
ty-seven feet below sea-level, and,
instead Of digging a channel 10
admit the water from the sea, banks
had 10 be piled up 20 prevent the over
How Of the country through which il
passed. This region-that h., what Of
II was not covered by water-had been
reclaimed by dykes. and one Of the OBJ
iects 70 be attained through the North
Sea Canal was 10 drain entirely this
inland lake, thus retaining more land.
This has been done, and by pumping
out Of the ancient lakes into the canal
already l., $50 acres Of land have been
reclaimed, some Of which has been sold
as high as El2O-or S6U0-per acre.
Three miles from tie west coast the
route II the canal lay through the sand
dures, desert-barrens covered with
shifting sands, like those along the Suez
Canal. The difficulty 10 be overcome
here, as in the Suez enterprise, was 20
prevent the filling Of the canal with
,and-drifts, and also TO guard against
the washington Of the banks by the
waves caused by the passing Of vessels.
To accomplish this, as was done on the
Suez Canal, the margin 81 the canal
was sowG with various plants, the mat
ted roots Of which holds the soil togeth-
er, and, besides, the banks were walled
or lined with artificial stone, gravel,
broken brick, and clay.
A. completed, the canal is fourteen
and three-quarter miles long, has a
breadth Of Lightweight feet al the bot
tom and 2l7 at the surface, and will
pass vessels II % feet draught. While
considerably shorter and trihe shall
lower than the Suez, the North Sea Ca
nal has been far more difficult of con-
struction, and relatively bids fair To be
of greater importance for IL will main
tain the commercial supremacy Of Am
sterdam even after the Zlyder Zee
shall have been dyked in and wholly
as Is now proposed 10 do
chicago Tribune.