The evening times., 1901-11-25
DETAILS OF PLANS
FOR THE CANAL.
THE ESTIMATED COST $189, 100000.
Two Great HarBors, One at Each
Terminus of the Nicarazuan
Waterway Provided for-COn-
gress Likely to Act.

It is quite generally expected that Con-
gress viii this winter authorize the con-
struetion Of the Nicaragua Canal and
that the great waterway will cost about
$1Ss 00O.oo0. This estimate provides for
two great harbors-one at Greytown, on
the Atlantic or Caribbean end of the
canal. and the other at BritO, at the Pa
cifc end-for a canal Of eight locks, and
for an enormous dam at Conehuda. on
the San Juan River. several miles above
the mouth OF the san Carlos River
The Greytown harbor and entrance to
the canal will cost s.. .196. $50, and the
B-ito harbor and entrance will cost 81
5O9,470. The Greytown harbor half cen
tury ago had depth of fifty feet of water
It is now only little better than a la
goon, with half the depth. and lighters
bearing cargoes from ships anchored in
the ofHng have to cross a bar that car
ries less than six feet OF water
As the canal should have a depth of
thtrty-fve feet. it is necessary that the
harbor and entrance should have the
same. It is proposed TO have harbors at
each end Of the canal protected by Jet
ties $500 feet long. These jetties will
be constructed of loose stone and will be
six feet above the water. The entrance
viii be 500 feet wide and of 81 feet depth.
Much Dredging Necessury.
Much more dredging VIII be necessary
at Greytown than at Brito. The sand
movement al Brito viii be less than at
Greytown and the cost OF maintenance
Viii be far less Within the harbors there
viii be 3 turning basin of IS00 feet
Il viii be impossible for the Government
TO use the GreytoWn lagoon for the land
ing OF machinery or material for the pros
ecution OF the work on the canal It viii
be necessary TO do much railroad building.
a railroad must be built for about 100
miles in order TO do the work at all. This
viii cost. 1t IS estimated. S7.575. .0C0 This
/ IS understood TO be exclusive OF equip
ment. 4 branch Of this road viii also
have to be run from the main line to the
| proposed great Conchuda dam
| This dam VIII be one Of the features of
| the canal The canal. as is well known.
| passes through Lake Nicaragua This
! lake, while forming q natural portion Of
! the canal. at the same time presents q
/ difficult problem. It is 1C0 miles long and
/ 45 miles wide, and it discharges into the
! Caribbean Sea through the san Juan
River. near Greytown.
| ErR-r y-nFur,,. Of w..
East of the lake the san Carlos River
! eEpties into the san Juan. Both are very
| large streams, The san Carlos alone dis
| charges 100000 cubic feet Of water per
second, and this may at times reach geo
I 0O0 per second. Through . Is miles OF
the lake there must be dredging to give
/ the required depth of 81 feet and 10 make
! a channel goo feet wide. This will cost
/ $7.ST7511
There is q variation in the level Of Lake
Nicaragua of at least thirteen feet At
times it as high as 115 and at times as low
IS q feet It viii be necessary to check
this fUctuation by means Of dam on the
San Juan River.
The search for the cite Of this dam was
one Of the most difficult tasks TO the en-
gineers. The difference between a good
and bad site has since been found to
/ represent at least 81. .000, Geo.
The Preliminary Report.
In It's preliminary report the Commits
sion decided 70 build q dam just above :he
point where the San Carlos debouches in
to the san Juan. This dam changed all
the early estimates of the Commission. II
was necessary to put this dam west of the
mouth OF the san Carlos in order that il
should not be made to hold the combined
foods of these two great rivers.
| This dam. Including the sluices and ma
| chinery. is to cost not 10 exceed s4.017, $50
There is also to be an auxiliary waste
way. including sIuiees and approach chan
nels to the dam, which viii cost 81. .045, go
The lifts Of the various locks viii vary
from about 19 feet TO 90 feet
From lock No. to lock No > there i:
/ a stretch of canal nearly eleven miles
| long The cost Of this section will b.
very nearly SI,0OO.OOO a mile 1t viii in,
clude the lock known as No. .. TheI
comes another stretch of nearly seven,
teen miles, to the third lock, and the cos
increases to nearly S1.25oOO mile.
There then begins quite rise in tn,
land, and the next two sections are rather
short The first Of these. to lock No. 4, il
only two and three-quaTter miles far
ther on. A little less than five and one
half miles further the canal enters th'
San Juan river, above the San Juan dam
at Conchuda
Heretofore the canal has followed
course to the north of the river. Nov
for a distance of about ffty miles tn
river is made to do duty as the canal
,, This portion Of the route is known a
: the San Juan River section The rive
must be dredged and made navigable, an
the cost Will be less than $50e, coo a mile
Across Lake Nicaragua
Leaving the river the course will nex
] be across Lake Nicaragua. For fifty an
one-haIf miles the traffic of the futur
! will go through the lake The low cos
0 is one of the things that makes it pos
e sfble for the United States to construc
| the canal by this route. 1t is estimate
at little more than s112, 500 per mile
Nine miles beyond the lake the plans G
, ] the Commission bring the canal to loc
, | No. D There very extensive work ba
, | to he done. The excavation becomes yer
, ! heavy as the divide beyond the lake j
climbed, and it has been found necessar
| to construct enormous receiving basins
intercept the Rio GraRde, Las Lajas, an
| Chocoiat "a rivers. The expenditure at thi