Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1895-12-04
CHICAGO'S CANAL.
1t Is Hard to Grasp the Nastness of
the Undertaking.

the Undertaking.
The drainage canal which Chicago is
building between it and Lockport is near
~ twenty-ninc miles long and is Won
derful undertaking. Work on it is d.
vided into twepty-nine sections. Given
under contract To twenty different and re-
sponsible firms. the work on all these
subdivisions is in full progress, and on
two or three of them-and that i'll the
most difficult rocky parts already fin
ishcd.
The width of the great trench at the
bottom is nowhere less than 10 feet on
the first nine sections from Chicago,
while on other sections ii will be 2O2
feet. To- be reduced again 10 16O feet. ~
large part of the excavation has 10 be
made through solid ledge - limerick,
underlying the track of the Desplaines
River. The width of the upper edges of
the huge ditch Will vary from 162 to 3O5
feet, the former width prevailing only
on Tie ten solid rock sections of the ex-
cavations. where the walls are vertical
and not sloping down as on the remain
ing nineteen subdivisions which are ex-
cavated by digging, shoveling and dredg-
ing.
two feet This will be uniform through
out. even at the lowest possible condi
ton of Lake Michigan which will feed
the canal AT the rate of 5000 cubic feet
a minute and later, when the bottom
width of the fist nine sections shall have
been enlarged to POO feet. at the rate of
100000 cubic feet of water a minute.
From the estimates recently made there
will have been removed by 1891, when it
is expected the canal will be completed,
1000. $50 cubic yards of earth, or in
other words. nearly two-thirds of the ex-
cavation of the newly opened Baltic canal,
five-sXths of the Manchester canal, two
fifths of the Sues canal and three-tenths
of the abortive Panama ditch. OF the
40,000000 cubic yards of excavGtcd soil,
clay. gravel, broken stone and crushed
primeval rock fully $1,000, 900 cubic yards
alone will belong To the latter class. max
ing the Chicago enterprise really unique
one.
A stroll along the works Is highly
novel. One sees big dredges, fanked by
flying bridges and gigantic scoops, lad
ling UP whole loads of dirt at one sweep.
One sees leviathans of machinery ex-
pressly invented and built to dispose of
the loose stone rubble and blasted pieces
of rock along the second half of the
Big Ditch" Under the name of can
tilevers." they tower like oblique gallows
of antediluvian mOnstrosity over the land
scape, loosening, lifting and removing
tons of blasted rock with no more exertion
than that with which children handle
their toys.
Along with these and kindred cyclopic
devices, there is whole army train o.
steam, gas, water and electric motors, to-
gether with from 5000 to 5000 men, GOO
teams, numberless graders, carts and
trucks, and finally an array of blasting
machinery, needing five tons of dyna-
mite as their daily bill of fare. During
one month recently 1.160,616 cubic yards
of earth and rock were cXcavated and the
cost of this one months work amounted
to S695 05J.
In the beginning the cost of the work
was estimated ut between $40.OOo000 and
SO 100000. but it is now estimated that
at least $3O,0p0,0O0 will suffice to COM
piete the work.