New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-26

II mas not yet decided UPON It's plan
"ne'ier Il is to be at a 9o-foot level. or 6o-foot
% oo-root level or sea level That is TO be
ueoIueo hereafter, upon the basis Of data to be
secured by the present commission. Now Mr.
"diiaoe and his staff are working to secure
trustworthy data for that purpose, so that no
MISTAKE VIII be made in selecting the plan for
the canal
no" Huch need there is Of such work and
nc" uhtrustworthy former surveys were may
De seen from my promised recurrence to the
! bohIo-oplspo section of the canal In most dis
cusSiohs OF the high level canal plan the great
! BONO dam has figured as the crux OF the whole
! situa uoli-as 1t undoubtedly would be were that
plan ADOPTED In surveying for that dam the
french engineers chose the narrowest part Of
the valley where there would be the smallest
amount OF dam to build above the surface Of
the ground. The American surveyors chose an
other place, where the valley wider but
"here as they thought, the bedrock was nearest
/ 10 lhe surface of the ground, and there would
thus nave to be the least excavations for the
foundations. Both parties did their work very
imperfectly They had no diamond drills. and
such drills as they had were put down at too
great and irregular intervals. They would strike
bowlder as big a barrel. and exclaim with
JOY. VOLTA! lie bedrock Now Mr.. Wallace Is
sending down diamond drills which do not stop
/
feet apart all the way across the valley The
result is that the bedrock is found to be thirty
i've feet or more below the former measure
mentS and to have very irregular contour.
This one example indicates the imperative neces-
slty OF doing just what IS now being done,
namely making a complete and accurate survey
of the whole course of the canal. An inch the
end of a mans nose, we are told. makes a great
difference. So does an increase of thirty-five
feet in excavating for the foundations Of dam.
especially when you hundred and sixty
five feet below level.
The Bohio dam is, as have said, an essential
feature of the high level plan. What have al
ready said about the soundings for its founda-
ton should indicate not only the colossal magni-
tude of the problem. but also the uncertainty
which still exists TO its practicability. 1t
would be rash 10 say that any engineering
problem is nsoluble. But IL is no injustice
TO the accomplished engineers who have worked
and who are now working at Bohio to say that
they have not yet succeeded in solving this one.
1t may be possible to build dam at Bohio But
nobody is yet prepared to say just how it can
be done or how much 1t will cost how long
ST will take. Again. while the high level plan
is thus confronted by an unsolved problem It
is the only plan that is thus confronted for 1t is
the only plan that involves that problem. and
that is the only unsoved problem in the whole
canal business. In the low level and sea level
plans all IS plain sailing-or plain digging To
excavate the Culebra cut down to sea level
would be a tremendous task. but only because
of the amount Of dirt TO be removed and carted
away It would involve novel problem. It
would simply mean doing a bigger scale what
has already been done thousand times
smaller scale. AS for the Chagres River. which
has been regarded appalling a DOGGY man.
what plan is adopted. and It is quite tudicious
to say that it can be controlled more easily and
safely under the sea level than under the high
level plan. II level canal is built, there
will be dam at Gamboa, which Will simply
divert the Chagres into another channel. partly
natural and partly artificial. through which it
will flow the sea without entering the canal.
and in which it may range from rll to torrent
at will without harm TO the canal Compared
with the unsolved problem of the Bohio dam. the
Gamboa dam would be child's play. satisfsc-
tory foundation for it has already been found,
! on bedrock, at no point below sea level. Con-
| trast that with the seeking OF an uncertain
| foundation hundred and sixty-iye feet below
! the level,
! Does what have just written sound like
! argument for q sea level canal? If So II does
not belle my purpose There Is no doubt that
most-not ALL but most-of those who have
studied the problem here in favor Of that
plan, and that every days work and investi-
cations strengthen them IN that attitude. II is
generally conceded that a level canal is the
! only one that will finally be acceptable Well,
II we are TO have it at any time. should
have 1t at the outset. That is partly because
it would be economy thus to build 1t at once in
point Of money cost and partly because If it is
not built at first it cannot be built at all with
out closing the canal against all traffic for years
It might be possible cut a 30-foot level
! canal down to sea level without suspending
traffic. do not believe one competent engineer
in fifty would regard 1t as possible thus to
deal with 90-foot even a 60-foot level
canal. But we are told, sea level canal would
cost so much more to build, and would take so
much more time, and of course Americans are
IN q hurry. Well let about that The
former canal commission, upon whose report
we purchased the unfinished canal. estimated
that a 9O-foot canal could be used IN nine
years, could be finished in ten years. and would
cost S200O000O0; a 60-foot canal could be
used in ten years could be finished in twelve
years and would cost 1925 100000; a 30 foot
canal could be used in twelve years could be
| finished IN fifteen years, and would cost $3.50
100000 and a level canal could be used in
fifteen years. could be finished in twenty years
| and would cost S3O0OOOOO0 Perhaps I should
say those are estimates based upon the former
commissions report. Now have shown in the
case Of the Bohio dam, how untrustworthy that
report was. Let me cite another example. The
commission estimated that excavation at Guile
bra would cost so cents a cubic yard. Mr.
! Wallace is actually doing it for maximum
OF 81 cents, and is doing much Of It for less
than that AS there are 100000oo0 cubic yards
to excavate for sea level canal. we may strike