New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-24
INTEROCEANIC TRANSIT.

INTEROCEANIC TRANSIT
A PAPER by ". J. WALPINF, OF NEw-Y0RK-IIs
CRITICISMS UPON THs PANAMA CANAL SCH Me
--INsURMoUNIADLE PHYSICAL DIFFICULTIES
POINTED OUT.
icy TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE.l
WAsHISGrON, Jan. 23.-Mr. w. j. Neal
pine of New-York, the civil engineer, has
prepared n paper on interoceanic transit. Grill
cising especially the proposed tidewater canal
of De Lcsseps. copy of Mr.. McAlpines paper has
been sent to Representative Grape of Massachu-
scts. who will lay it before one OF the House commit
tees having jurisdiction of bills relating to the sub
icct of interoceanc transit The article is as
follows:
consider the scheme for 2 ship canal be-
tween the Atlantic and Pacific. through
the lsthmus OF Panama. without locks; aS lmpIaCd-
cable of construction, and even with tide locks as I'M
possible 10 maintain IN navgable condition. u1e
the words mprncticable and impossible "a invoiV-
ing physical difficulties which would prevent IT'S
use and maintenance III an interoceanlc canal lor
such steam and sal yessls as are now III use or ls
which may be required for the commerce wnlG -
would seek such route between these oceans, IL
one was successfully opened. Inc 0rlglnai PROPOSE
ton of NJ. De Lessrps was duphGGahte oi ,5 5ns
Of of'N ths s"''" Mediterranean at the mouth
of the Suez Canal have mean range OF ltlIe more
than foot aud extreme range OF three teet' ana
those of the Red Sea at the other end oil tue caa
have mean of three feet and an extreme OF SIX 1ee
The tides of the Caribbean Sea at the north END OF
the proposed Panama Canal arc about the same as
those of tue Mediterranean, and those or the racine
at the other end have an ordinary range OF sixteen
feet and an extreme OF twenty-five feet. mere Is
but ono daily tide on the Atlantic sdo ana TWO on
the Pacific The tides on the opposite SIDES Oh
the IsthInus are at about the same elevation.
II the Panama Canal was constructed open 10 the
ocean m each end tho surface OF Its water would he
practically level twice day. and would have rise
and fall of eighteen to twenty-five feet IN It's length
twice a dav, and the canal would require To be tiat
much deeIEr ut its southern end. Whenever this
slope occurred il would produce current No strong
rs TO prevent navigation The original proposition III
"A canal without locks would therefore not only DE u-
necessarily costly. but would bo useless for large
norton OF the commerce sought 10 be accommodate d
A lock at tho Pacific end Is therefore necessity,
ana at the other end OF the canal OF great ser
vice. The most serious OF the OOJcctoils Oh W. ue
Lesseps to a canal with locks apply 10 his modified
plan The latter Will now be- considered. VIZ: OF n
canal tn tide lock at each end cnannol giving
tweuty-sIx feet of water throughout Its t0ry-twO
miles OF length, and a surface width Of 100 Feet
The summit Of the ridge Is nearly 3Oo leet above
tide and # the whole cutting was III rock 1t
would require an excavation OF lOO'OOo-
600 cubic yards. Some OF the ma
terlal will be of earth which Will require Hat
slopes and trehcnes. The Suez Canal, OF nearly the
same water section, much lower summit ana
hundred miles of length. has required the re-
moyaI of nearly l50,U00OO0 CUBIC yards or
sand | think that tho following Is n far esti-
mate OF the probable outlay which would be re-
CURED for TINS canal:
10 900 900 cubic yards Of earth e1ca-
vAtion above water 30 c"nts............ $3OOOOOO
10 100000 cube yards OF earth below oo.ooo
rs. 600. 900 cubic yards II cartn rock rXc.s- - 90. 80
walton aDov. water. S3...........--... 23O,OOOOOO
10 900 900 cubic yards NJ earth rock cScl-
Two ijdr lor Ks and projections ........ 100000
Two catch water canals. each Of - miles, 800
at 100000 per mile 2jOOOOOO
Reservoirs and their projections. .--.... 2,OOOOOO
sncrIr Items 73OooOOO
Interest on the expenditures. discounts -
etc, llooo"ooo
Tntal Drobable cogt.................. TOOO,OOOOOO
The water of thc canal follows the channel way
of the Chagres aud Rio Grande Rivers. and from
these channels the hills and mountains rise on each
aide TO elevations of thousand feet or more. The
annual rainfall nj Aspnwall averages more than ten
fsot in d,ptband somctnesre reaches more than four
teen feet. Eighty per cent OF the rainfall OCCURS
SIX months. More than thirty inches of ram has
been recorded III one month, two-thlrds of which
fell IN ten days and on particular days
n depth of six inches IN day Is
Of frequent occurrence. The watershed "f the
Chagrr, River averages more than 900 feet greater
elevation than at A~phwall, and the rainfall there
on must br considerably greater. The rainfall on
the Pacific sOpe ~ very muchless. When The earth
has previously absorbed ralhwdter To repetition,
and all of the other water cavities have been led.
"A very large proportion Of the succeeding rams owS
off TO the waIcrcouseS; 0n tnG CTPto, IL IS i9nnh
OF to the III the wet season - five
times n great that which flows OF from the
rains at the end OF The dry season. In providing for
nrotertiyc works for Tins Panama Canal, II viii be
necessary 10 consider the effect at rainfall OF ten
inches depth IN day npon ground already satu-
ratc,i and also that NJ this time the wdtcrcourses
nrr dIscharging large volumes rom previous heavy
rains TIC area OF the watershed of the ChagreS
River II 800 square miles, and ten inches of depth
over ITS surface amounts TO 5000 10000 cubic feet
Of water In CONFEDERATION of thus estimate Is the
measurement at the actual quantity OF wator which
was flowing at place on the upper part of the
ChnVfcs River where il drained thirty square miles
winch gave al 900, 900 in the dry season. which,
by the usual rule of estimating floods. would give
10 900 900. 900 cubic feet for the whole drainage
during the greatest Hoods. a channel IN rock
masonry having tho greatest slope which could be
Obtained. sufficient 10 carry OIL this flood water
would have to be as large the ship canal itself at
the lower end, and OF half that size near the
middle. An intcrceptinG canal would be
required on each side of tho ship canal,
having together the capacity above mentioned to
convey the Hood waters estimated. But these catch
water canals must be of still greater sza because
during the rainy season there Will no an average
Hnw of more than 1000 cubic feet per second, and
frequently one of four times that quantity from the
rains preceding the storm above estimated for.
USELESS Plans OF NJ. DE LEssEPs.
The problem IS too complicated for an ofl-hand So
luton bnt tho preceding remarks are sufficient TO
show that tho scheme of N. De Lesseps presented
to tho public omits altogether most costly but
necessary adjunct. II. Dc Lesseps has proposed TO
intercept these excessive raln-waters by
means Of storing reservoir, 80 arranged
rs 10 receive and cqnalIze the flow. and ;hc slto
which he has selected Tor TINS equaZng reservoir
where about one-tenth of the whole drainage Of the
Chagrcs River would be intercepted. There have
been years when rainfall Of moro tHan u hundred
inches of depth has fallen during four months but
very unequally. RESERVOIR at tins site II SUI
hcicnt capacity TO receive and cqnazs from
TINS rainfall would require to be- of 100000, 900
cubic feet. There IN no place where %
reservoir Ot One-tcnth Of this capacity could
be obtained. But this reservoir would only
regulate the floods Of one-tcnth OF the of the
watershed OF tho Cnngres 1t can therefore DO
stated with pOstvcness that NJ DO LesseDsS OpOsed
plnn of restraining the Hood waters ~ useless and
that no other plan of that kind can he awaited OF
very large luterreUtilu
the flood waters flowing into the sup canal wuulA
a IN "A If M IN