Evening star., 1898-12-23
Details Regarding the Construction
of the Nioaraguan Canal.
WORK LAID OUT IN SECTIONS
Entire Cost of the Work EST.
mated at $135,ooo,ooo.
AGREES WITH GEN. LUDLOW

NEW YORK, December 23.-The prelin.
mary report of the Nicaragua canal com.
mission, consisting OF General Hams. Ad.
miral Walker and Prof. Haupt, has been
completed and will be read before The
Senate committee either during the Christ
mas recess of Congress or Immediately af-
terward.
This report will give many details of con.
struction in regard to the proposed route
and will give pretty close figure on the
entire cost of the undertaking as far as
human ingenuity can foresee.
A summary of these costs has been made
out in sections, and, without going into the
details of curves and levels they are as
follows:
The eastern harbor and jetties will require
about 9000,000 cubic yards of soft excava-
ton. The jetties themselves require about
100000 cubic yards of rip-rap stone.
The GreytOwn Section
The Greytown section of the canal--that
is, the section beginning at the harbor and
reaching to the east divide-will reauire
10000, 0OO cubic yards of earth and clay ex-
cavations. The three locks in this section
will cost in the neighborhood of $4,000, OOC
complete. with &,o0O000 yards excavation
This section is about thirteen and one-hal If
miles in length and runs through the jungle
country near the coast. There will be 1uU
acres of clearing and grubbing also in this
section. The incidental expenses will
amount to little besides those above enum-
Grated, therefore they are omitted
The divide section reaches from here
through the high rocky range of hills to
tWenty-fou miles further. There are 1900
900 cubic yards of rock in this cut and
about 100000 yards of earth and clay
The depth Of this cut will be mitigated by
the height Of the canal which is here 1I2
feet above the sea. The actual cutting will
be about 200 feet in the deepest part. From
here begins the Ochoa section, which runs
through the San Francisco basin and Flor
ida lagoon. This is low country and the
cutting which will reach to the OcfOa dam,
341a miles from the Caribbean sea, will
only add 100000 yards to the figures
making a trifie over 4G,000, 600 cubic yards
to the dam. From here summary of the
cut through the San Juan river will aggre-
gate 34aE3,To cubic yards, with about j,
100000 more for curve widening and 1900
acres clearing and grubhing. This will
not include any of the dams or emhank-
rients, but simply the channel cutting in
the bed Of the San Juan river.
Cost of ochoa Dam.
This makes 1000 go cubic yards of all
grades Of cutting to Lake Nicaragua. The
cost of the Ochoa dam, upon which rests
the entire feasibility of the route has not
been accurately computed, as the under
taking is of 50 colossal nature as to be be-
yond figuring within unit, or even more,
The dam will be over 1850 feet in length,
its foundation 10 feet below the bed of silt
in the river bottom, and its rise over 130
feet. AS the river Will have to be turned
from its course during this construction it
will be seen that many details will have to
b. taken into consideration for an estimate
for its cost.
The San Carlos embankment will cost
several million dollars and the estimates
are being made. The cuts in the shallow
part of the lake will aggregate 1O,0DO0U0
yards, making a total of S5,000,00O to the
western division of the canal.
The estimates for the western division
have not been made yet. They are under
the direction of Admiral Walkers son. V
w. q. Walker, and they will amount to
not less than 3o,UO0,U00 cubic yards more
making total of 1l5,00O, 0o0 cubic yards of
all kinds of excavation to the harbOr at
Brito, and allowing 3,061000 cubic yards for
dredging here the total estimate will come
to nearly 125,Gp,Go0 yards, exclusive of all
dams and emoankments. 1t will be seen
that $l3J0OO,UOO will be a conservative es-
innate of the entire cost of the canal, and
this almost agrees with that of Maj. Gen
William LudloW'S $ report of 1896.