Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-01-09
PUZZLE TO ENGINEERS.
Miles of Track of Railroads Sinking
In Americas Dead Sea.

Miles of Track of Railroads Sinking
In Americas Dead Sea.
What is the matter with the bottom
OF Americas Dead seattle Great Salt
lake of Utah-that 1t will not support
the forty-eight miles Of grade and tres
tie that the Southern Pacific engineers
have been trying to construct across
an arm Of it?
In recent issue Of the Los Angeles
(Cal) Times appeared dispatch from
Salt Lake City telling about the diff
culties encountered, necessltating the
postponement again and. again Of the
opening OF this cutoff in the Central
Pacific line for the running Of trains.
Miles and miles Of the new track have
sunk as much as seven feet below
grade, and that after firm foundation
was thought to have been secured by
driving piles to a. great depth. A num-
Der OF work trains have even been
swallowed by the salty sea through the
sudden giving away Of the bottom.
1t has been surmised that Bear river
has filled in the bottom Of the lake with
q sediment too weak to sustain the
great weight thrown upon II by the
building Of the railroad track on pom
toon Of piles. A. ]. Woodbury., who
has devoted some study to the problem,
says there is doubtless another cause.
He ascribes 1t to the existence OF q
Quicksand of unknown depth under
thin layer of river mud. Said Mr..
Woodbury.:
"Ogden is ten miles from Great Salt
lake and 100 feet higher. In the early
nineties an effort was made to develop
natural gas, which had been success
fully accomplished some miles to the
southwark At depth 400 feet lower
than the present bottom Of the lake the
drill brought up pieces Of wood l have
in my possession now some OF the bits
of wood, which l secured at the time.
Whether the wood grew there or was
brought down by an avalanche or great
food there is Of course no way OF tell
ing, but there 1t is, with 400 feet Of
earth on top Of 1t.
"There are no scars on the face OF
the country round about to indicate
the great changes that have taken
place other than the old shore line OF
the lake, which can be traced for miles
and miles along the side Of the Wa
satch mountains, 1000 feet higher than
the present surface of the lake, max
ing it the largest inland body Of water
of which we have any knowledge. 1t
Is evident that when this vast lake
was drained the water went out with
a rush, but whether by the Snake riv-
er route or the Grand canyon of the
Colorado geologists have never definite
ly determined. However, that has
nothing to do with the subject under
discussion, except to show the won
derful changes that have taken place
in the great intermountain basin since
the upheaval Of the continent.
"What was the result Of the boring
for gas at Ogden? Shortly after the
drill passed through the stratum of
wood it encountered quicksand, which
bafied all attempts at further progress,
so the work was abandoned. This sand
In all probability extends out under
the lake.
ut is easy to conjecture, therefore,
that the Southern Pacific engineers
have encountered an unknown depth
Of quicksand, with thin veneering Of
Bear river mud"
Will the engineers be able to over
come this difficulty? That is question
that must be answered and a problem
to be solved before the millions already
spent in trying to shorten the line OF
the Central Pacific between Ogden and
California will become effective. Ap-
a harder engineering task was
never undertaken. The outcome will
be watched with interest.