The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-26
SHIP CANALS
OF THE WORLD
%-
Big Artificial Waterways Dug to
aid Navigation.
MODERN VESSELS DRAUGHT
CHANNELS MUST BE DEEP TO
ACCOMMODATE THEM.
Special Correspondence

Washington, D. c., Jan. 21-The
passage Of the Nicaraguan canal bill
by the house and the possible consruc-
ton Of the canal creates great interest
in the various great canals of the
world which have been constructed or
are contemplated.
Ship canals connecting great bodies
Of water and of sufficient dimensions to
accommodate the great modern vessels
plying upon such waters are of COM
paratively recent production and few in
number. The one great example Of
works of this character which has been
a sufficient length Of time in existence
and operation TO supply satisfactory
data as to cost of maintenance and OPP
Grafton and practical value to the COM
merce of the world is the Suez canal,
and for this the available statistics be-
gin with the year 1870, while its new
and enlarged dimensions only date
from the year 1896. For the SaUlt Ste.
Marie canal, connecting Lake Superior
with Lake Huron, statistics date from
1855, though for the canal in its pres
ent form they cover but about four
years. Statistics of the Welland canal
date from 1867, but for the canal in its
present enlarged form cover only two
years of operation. The other great
ship canals of the world are of much
more recent construction and data re
garding their operation therefore cover
a comparatively brief term, and in
some cases are scarcely at present
available in detail.
Nine Canals For Ships.
The artificial waterways which may
properly be termed ship canals are nine
in number, viz:
First-Ihe suez canal, begun in 1859
and completed IN 1863.
Second-The Cronstadt and st. Pc
tersbuIg canal, begun in 1877 aud COM
pleted in 1880.
Third-The Corinth canal, begun in
1884 and completed in 1898.
Fourth-The Manchester ship canal,
competed in 1894.
Flfth-The Kaiser Wilhelm canal,
connecting the Baltic and North seas,
competed in 1895.
Sixth-The Elbe and Trave canal,
connecting the North sea and Baltic,
opened in 1900
Seventh-The Welland canal, con-
Meeting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario.
Eighth and Ninth-The two canals,
United States and Canadian. respect
lively, connecting Lake Superior with
Lake Huron.
The description which is given of each
of these great waterways shows that
the length of the Suez canal is about
ninety miles, the cost 500, 000000, the
present depth 81 feet, width at bottom
los feet and at the surface 420 feet, and
that the number of vessels passing
through it has grown from 4S6 in 1870
to 1,4O4 in 1875, 2,O26 in 1880. 1888 in
1880, and {, AL in 1900. The tolls charged
are about 81 per net registered ton.
The CronStadt and st. Petersburg
canal, which gives a passageway for
great vessels to st. Petersburg, is six
teen miles long, including the deepen
ing of the bay channel, 201a feet in
depth, and the total cost estimated at
$40, 0O0 000.
The Corinth canal, which connects
the gulf of Corinth with the gulf of
Aegina, is four miles in length, 2614
feet in depth, y feet wide at the bot
tom, cost about s5000,O00. and reduces
the sailing distance about 175 miles.
The average tolls charged are Is cents
per ton and 20 cents per passenger
Some of the Big Waterways.
The Manchester ship canal. which
connects Manchester. England, with
the Mersey river and Liverpool, Was
opened in 1894. It's length is 351A miles,
depth 26 feet, width at bottom 120 feet
and at the surface 10 feet, and cost
S75, 600. 900. The commerce on the canal
shows a growth from SIS, 204 tons in
1895, to 1.492, 800 in 1900.
The Kaiser Wilhelm canal which
connects the Baltic and North seas
through Germany, is 81 miles in length,
29I5 feet in depth, y feet wide at the
bottom, 1870 feet wide at the surface,
and cost about $40,00o000. The num-
Der of vessels passing through it has
increased from 1850 in 1897 10 29,095 in
1900, of which number 1915 were sail
ing vessels. The tonnage in 1897 was
!. S4S, 45S, and in 1900, 4,2S2.094 tons. An
additional canal connecting the same
bodies of water by way of the Elbe
and Trave rivers was opened in 1900.
Its length is fl miles, depth about 10
feet, width y feet. and cost $1,000. 600.
The Great North Holland canal which
connects Amsterdam wifi the sea, cut
in 1915. but deepened at a later day.
has now d depth of 20 feet, a width Of
125 feet at the surface. The CALIFORNIAN
canal which connects the Atlantic and
North sea through the north of Scot
land. is il feet in depth. 80 feet in
width at the bottom. $50 miles long,
cost .000,000. and is At IS highest
point "a feet above sea level. The
Canal du Midi. cut through France
from Toulouse on the Garonne to Cette
on the Mediterranean. a distance of
$50 miles, is 81 feet deep, so feet wide,
and 500 feet above sea level at its high
est point, and has ia locks. total cost
! So. 500 OoO
United States Assumed Control.
In America the canals connecting the
Great Lakes are the principal ship
canals. and are three in number: the
Welland canal, originally constructed
in 1871 and 1900; the Sault Ste Marie.
or st. Mary's river canal, opened in
1855 and enlarged in 1887; and the Can
adam canals or ST. Mary's falls are
practically Identical in location and d.
mansions. and are used Interchange
ably by vessels engaged in commerce.
/ as convenience may dictate. The depth
/ Of the canals at the St. Mary's river
! is sufficient to accommodate vessels
! drawing 20 feet of water. The Ameri-
! can canal was originally constructed
/ by the state of Michigan, but subse-
quently taken charge of bt the United
States and enlarged at a cost of 81. 49,
/ geo. The cost Of the Wenand canal
was about $4,000. 900. largely due to the