The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-09-01

| Meeting the mouths Of The rivers Lajas and Dol
Medic, at the lake. with the haIb Dor OF Brito.
and that It Is from these two that the abs
description OF the lines heretofore given Will at
once show that the kiodel Medic ronie nossess,
| many adya utages over that OF the Lsjas. ana
that the selection between the two is m easy task
From the point Of Intersection, at Las Serdas
10 Brio, they coincide and form one and tne
the lake that they should be compared to each
other 10 establish thsir relative merits as
canal route. Along that distance the LaJas lins
Is isl l,ao miles longer than the Msdio,and although
the culminatipg point Of the former. as shown
by the profile. i 81 feet lower than tnat OF the
the narrow valley Of tn. Rio Grande where the
deepest Gu tngs will take place. and which, 1t
s on 1G sbe Rio ID" Me- Meao Aos that
| aam- distance three iarga sfreams-the dusc ,.
vol. the Espinal and the Rio Grande-and eight
Lajas. while, only two small ones-MDe, De- Msdio &
and Chocolata-are taken in by the Del Medic
| route. Any stream. no matter now small not
furious to a work OF this kind. and those under
| consideration are particularly so. as they run
only at The precise time OF the year when the
| dry season what lutte water runs through thsm
percolatss through the sand and gravel depos-
rocky bottom is uncovered or 10 occasional poois
| along the channels. On some particular occa-
sions In the wet 81 ason they become. gensraily.
for short time precipitous torrents and from rom
the inenations of their beds and the high
water marks observed on. the banks their
amount of flow has been estimated At $500 and
EspinaI and Rio Granae The easier curves
and the great facilities existing along the no
| del Medic ronte for the deposit OF the waste
materials. and which ths other line does not
| posi- ess are also points Of the highest consider.
oP B the Ls nY bfe bv M roe
| the same depth Is attai ned ut 1900 feet the
quality Of the bottom being he snms nm, in both
/ We therefore consider the RIO del Medic route
as the most advanta taRaous of the two under
consideration, even should Its cost pc the great
est.
! The middle division comprises the lake navt-
CATION, q distance Of about Sc 50 miles, extend
ing from the entrance to the canal at the
| the origin Of the san Juan river. the outlet to
the Ake. In front OF the mouth Of the River
Del Medic On the western slde g q 5da she 2e
the shore, and along that olstance an e1cava-
ton mostly In rock. under water, will be re-
san Carlos there is mud deposit In the bottom
| OF, and extending some seven miles into tne
lake. which 1t wall bs necessary to remove py
dredging to mean depth OF 10 feet From the
end OF this mud deposit to the excavation at
the western entrance there is q depth In the
lake varying from rs to 132 ieet, ana no I'm
| proyements are required along that distance.
EAsTrRN DIVISION.
The eastern division extends from San Gar;
| los at the lake, to the harbnr OF San Juan dol
Norte or Grey,own. 1t + 1o8 43 miles In length.
63 o. miles in elaek water navigation by the kiver
sau Juan and 45.H miles OF inland canal. Tne
four dams, 10 be- locared 1T Castillo, Is las, and
foot of Machnca rapids. and the fourth about q
mile below the confluence OF the Rivar N San Car
with lock 10 % feet | it In each.
= Below the River San Carlos the San Juan
Wldens considerably IS 1t approaches the Col
orado. aud It's channel is subject to many
changes from freshets, aud. the, materials
brought down. by the tributaries San Carlos,
Serapiaul and other smaler streams pro ;eed- &C
ing from the high lands of Costa Rtca, and the
control OF lts regimen by means OF dams OF
other structures % is problem involved In mnch
from the river about 1000 feet above dam No.
and located by the most favorable points along
lilo branch Of the San Juan. whence. by an al
most straight line It reaches GreytoWn at dis
Of 80 me a % the P9n o q this ses
elevation projecting to the river from the main
In The INTERIOR giving a5ava te
Inc total distance :. Of 45:A miles o o
canals around dams. Ten locks 400 feet long
! 20 feet wide. with walls Al feet high. are pro
posed Il this division TIE first three nn locatef
} g. of 1923 feet lift and the remaining sever
Of 1887 feet lift each. are proposed at the enc
) OF the deep cuttings across the spurs Wners
: rock formations are believed to exist. From
the point where the. canal leaves the river (
; Ine Ravinses Quien Sabe. q short distance belop
teen culverts are designed to receive into n
canal or pass under it twenty. five small
streams ntersectIng the line. From Quiel
! sabe to Greyfown the peculiar topography I.
3 the country, with the San Juan on one side ant
the Juanillo on the other. makes unnecessar
3 any work Of that kind. a trench at the foot 0
3 the embankment being sufficient to drain tn
: canal into lagooEs or either OF the rivers Of
the sides.
SUPPLY OF WATER.
In estimating the amount of water necessar
for lockaga for both branches Of tbs canal. it /
, assumed that three lock-fal will be require
per hour at each lock. or in cubic feet per min
The amount lost by leakage. evaporation
r and repairs. at the rate Of three inches
: pc day of the whole surface OF the in
I land canal. ..--.-....---.. 82s
Leakage at two sum nit locks Ii, OK
g Total number Of cubic feet required per
e The lake discharges by the River San Jua.
- when at its lowest stage, AS gauged betWey
y Tore and Castillo rapids. III y o. 1873 by Lis.rJ
= J. w. MtIler, United States navy TAT IsO cub
I. fset Dor minute. or twenty times the anon.
= here estimated for the canal
Il MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION
L From the summit level in the western divisid
y 70 the harpor cf Brlto the country Is heayi