The Nome nugget., 1904-02-20
WORLDS
CANALS
The Suez Is the Most
Important
WHAT CANALS COST
Their Depth and Width Together
With Other Interest.
ing Data.
WHAT CANALS COST

attention being gwen TO the proposed
isthmian canal At this time lends
especial interest to discussion of the
great canals OF the world presented by
the department OF commerce and labor
through it's bureau of statistics. The
ship canals OF the world, it says, are
nine in number, as follows:
~ The Suez Canal, begun in 1859
and completed in 1869.
~ The Cronstadt and St. Peters
burg Canal, begun in 1877 and COM
plsted in 1890.
(3) The Corinth Canal begun in
1884 and completed in 1893
(4) The Manchester Ship Canal,
completed in 1894.
(5) The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, con-
Meeting the Baltic and North Sea, COM
pleted in 1895.
Coy The Elbe and Trave Canal, con-
Meeting the North Sea and Baltic,
opened in 1900.
90 The Welland Canal, connecting
Lake Erie with Lake Ontario.
Is and 81 The two canals, United
States and Canadian, respectively, con-
Meeting Lake Superior with Lake
Huron.
The Suez Canal is usually considered
the most important example Of ship
canals, though the number of vessels
passing through it annually does not
equal that passing through the canals
connecting Lake Superior with the
chain Of Great Lakes at the south, in
length, however. it exceeds any of the
other great ship canals, it's total length
being 80 miles, of which about two
thirds is through shallow lakes. The
material excavated was usually sand,
though in some cases strata OF solid
rock from two to three feet in thick
ness were encountered. The total ex-
cavation was about $4,000, 900 cubic
yards under the original plan, which
gave depth of twenty-five feet. In
1895 the canal was SO enlarged as to
give a depth Of 81 feet, a width at the
bottom OF 108 feet and at the surface OF
420 feet. The original cost was $685.
600. 900, and for the canal in its present
form slightly in excess OF 100000 900.
The canal connecting the Bay of
Cronstadt with ST. Petersburg is de-
scribed as work Of great strategic
and commercial Importance to Russia.
The canal and sailing course in the
Bay OF Cronstadt are about sixteen
miles long. the canal proper being
about six miles and the bay channel
about ten miles, and they together ex-
tend from Cronstadt, on the Gulf OF
Finland to st. Petersburg. The canal
was opened in 1890 with = navigable
depth OF twenty and half feet, the
original depth having been about nine
feet; the width ranges from 22O to 35(
feet. The total cost is estimated a,
about SlO,OOO,OO0
The next Of the great ship canals
connecting bodies OF salt water in the
order OF date Of construction is the
Cornith Canal, which connects the
Gulf OF Cornith with the Cult OF
Aegina. The canal reduces the dis
tancs from Adriatic ports about Tx
miles and from Mediterranean port.
about 100 miles. Its length is abou,
four miles, \ part OF which was cut
through granite soft rock and the re
mainder through soil.
The Manchester Ship Canal, which
connects Manchester, England, with
the Mersey river, Liverpool. and tn,
Atlantic ocean, was opened for traffi'
January l, 1894. The length Of thu
canal is 35i miles, the total raise from
the water level to Manchester bein1
sixty feet, which is divided between
four sets Of locks, giving an average t.
each Of fifteen feet. The minimum
width is 120 feet at the bottom ant
averages IT'S feet at the water level
though in places the width is EXTENDED
TO 230 feet.
Two canals connect the Baltic AM
North Seas through Germany, the frs
known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal
having been completed in 1895 and cor
structed largely for military and nava
purposes, but proving also Of grea
value to general mercantile traffic
Work upon the Kaiser Wilhelm Cans
WAS begun In 1887, and completed .
above indicated, in 1895. The lengt
Of the canal is 81 miles, the terminl
in the Baltic Sea being At the harbc
OF Kiel. The depth is POI feet, tn
width 1t the bottom u feet, and tn
minimum width ct the surface 100 fee