St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-01-03
THE TUNNEL OF MEXICO.
Enormous Engineering Work to
Re Done to Save the Life of a

Enormous Engineering Work to
Re Done to Save the Life of a
City.
Tie great valley of Mexico contains
six lakes, FIVE of which are from three
to fourteen feet higher than the streets
of the city, says the Boston Post. The
sixth and largest. TexcOcO, into which
the city drains, is few feet lower than
the streets, but the fall is 50 slight that
after heavy rains they remain flooded
for several hours. Moreover, what is
most serious and wherein lies the real
danger Is that as this lake has no out
let ii is gradually filling up. so that this
body of water, which once surrounded
the whole city and on which flOated the
briganiineS of COrteZ, is now reduced TO
about 100 square miles and has reeeded
to three miles from the city, and its
waters, salty and peStilent with the
drainage of three and half centuries.
are but three feet deep and growing
| sfeaier at the rate of one and One-half
inches yearly. 1t is evident that some
thing must be done, and that quickly,
! too. or the city in an other decade will
become uninhabitable. The city has
eften suffered from foundations, that of
1629 being the greatest and lasting five
years. Since before the Spanish con-
| quest in 1919 efforts had been made by
| the Aztec kings and Spanish vicerOys to
| hold back the water from the city by
| means OF dams and dykes, and i'm 1907
| the great canal and tunnel of NochiS-
tongO was begun. Fifteen thousand In
| dams in year opened 1900 meters of
canal and {, 900 meters of tunnel, most
remarkable achievement in so short a
| Space of time The object of
this was to give an exit from
the valley to the waters of the
three lakes to the north of the city,
which by their OverfOwS into TeXcocO,
caused the foundations. Ali went well
until the inundatiOn of 1929, mentioned
above, when, by the great volume and
force of the waters the tunnel caved in
and became stopped up and useless.
In 1857, as a last resort, it was decided
had been: it was colossal undertaking,
ditch four miles long by 1S5 feet deep
in places, and the unfortunate indians
were again forced into service and sent
to work from all over the country by the
tens of thousands, and over 100. 900 died
there. The work was incalculable, as
every Spadeful of earth had to be carried
away on the backs of men or beasts
An idea can be had of its enormous size
| as Work OF man by The Iac1
that the Central railway enters
the valley through this cut
creeping along On shelf or
its side. The work was interrupted
many times and dragged along for {
century and half, not being completed
until 1889. This worked very well fo
many years, but still TexcocO itself, int,
which Mexico drains, had no outlet, ant
as its bed rose nthe government deter
mined to execute such system OF drain
age as would accomplish its object full
and permanently. AS far back as 1873
the plan had been marked out. which
, has now been decided as the best, and i
being executed to-day. This plan is t
cut canal straight from TexcOco to tn
mountain wall at the north, which will
be tunneled at TequiSQuiac, the poin
where our excursion has just arrived
, | The canal will be about thirty mile
long, though not more than fifteen fee
deep the greater part of the way. an
the excavation of portions of it have a
ready been let out to the BucyruS CON
pany, of Cleveland. The tunnel will b
five and One-half miles long, of which
| mile is completed.