The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-12-04

tD2t the Gam, 80 ahyfate, II uiuSt
hazardous venture. but the Commls-
sloners have so little information as to
thenatu7e Of the site ofthe dam tha: they
caunot, as engineers. recommend any
sort If structure at this point al
though they admi; the necessity for the
success of the compsnys scheme OF a
great dam in this locality
The Ocboa dam is referred to more
than once in the report In fact, it
seems to be the pivotal point of the
entire question-''the keystone OF the
whole project the members of the
Commission consider it Numerous in-
stances of successes aud failures of
rock fll' daus are cited. aud the les
sou drawn therefrom seems to leave the
ouly problem to be solved in connec-
tiou with the Ochoa dam that as to the
nature of the foundation
The Commission finds that the com
pauy has made few boriugs in the bed
Of the river where it proposes to build
this colossal structure and that fc' lack
of suitable tools the oolings made
reached such shallow depth as 10
make them Of little practical value IN
de:erpining the character of the fouo
dasion on which the dan is to rest.
Members of the cog EMISSION cannot. as
engineers, ccmrs;s themselves fayorably
to the constructing of such an uopre
cedensed work, no matter how inviting
and advantageous its successful COM
ple,iop would appear, without a thor
ough knowledge Of the physics Of the
site. Such at examination: misn.
prove the construction OF the dams 20
be practicable Without such an ex
auioation. the Commission regard the
erection Of the dan as unsafe aud dan.
gerous, and it calls attention to the
possibility Of heavy Rood demoIishios
the structure auG releasing such head OF
water as to wash Greytown Into the
sea.
The conclusions Of the report are
eighteen in number, aud are
The entrance to the harbor at Grey
town, as proposed by the company, is
too near the angle of the coast line. and
should be moved eastward about mile
and half. the present lagoon to be
used as the inner barbor and connected
with the entrance by canal With a
bottom width Of 200 feet. The harbor
throughout should be dredged to thirty
feet below low water, and its depth
increased to six fathoms at the entrance
For the canal from Greysowo to
Lock No IA bottom width Of 100
feet, with clear depth Of thirty feet,
aud two intermediate and one terminal
siding for meeting Of vessels is prefer
able to the companys cross section Of
120 fee; bottom width, twenty ght
feet depth and 10 sidings The loca-
ton of the canal through the Bernard
lagoon is Objectionable. aud the line
may probably be moved to the south
ward aud straightened with advantage
''Lock No. l to end of summit level,
at Lock No. So reduce the lift Of
locks and dams in the Desceado Valley.
four locks. with maximum lift OF
;wee;y-eighs feet, are preferable to
three With maximum !if5 Of forty feet,
as proposed by the company, particu-
larry in view of the increase Of the
summit level elevation from 10G TO liz
feet above sea level. The com mpany's
cross section OF the canal between locks
has bottom width Of 120 feet The
Commissior believes that the width Of
100 feet, With sidings at proper inter
walls. should be adopted.
Eastern Divide Cut.-Addltional
boriogs on the axis of the cut, aud
PARALLEL Herewith, TO cover proposed
excavation, are necessary for inforna-
tion as 20 materials aod their distribu-
tion The vertical oue-6fth to one
slopes, proposed by the company, may
have to be increased, and the cube
thereby somewhat enlarged.
"The proposed basins. from the East
Divide along the San Juan River to
Ochoa, called the San Francisco basin,
involve loug lines of very heavy
embankmeuss 10 clay, tra7erslng deep
mud bottoms at some points, which will
call for great care in constr uetioD
The width Of the connecting channels
now fixed by the company at 80 fee,
should be increased to 100 feet, aud
a depth Of 80 fee, provided below
elevation 100 The height of all
embankments should be raised to pro-
vide for water surface elevation o!
1l2, aad the use of any portion Of the
em ban kmepts as weirs is inadmissibie.