The Savannah morning news., 1904-01-21


sIer easeway in the Bohio dam (the
easeway furnishing water power suf-
hcleht Tor the operation of the double
SET or locks that will be built in the
dam), smaller easeway around the
locks at Pedro Miguel, and a spillwav
lar over on the western side of Lake
Bohlo. This spillway will be a mile
long, and when the flow of the
Chagres becomes greater than the ca
pacity of the lake the water win rush
over the top of the spilway, down into
the Pena Blanca swamp, and, flowing
over the surface of the swami. dis
charge into the Caribbean sea. far tn
the westward of the present mouth of
the Chagres river.
How We Have Changed Plans.
With these accommodations for tor
rents IN the Chagres that problem will
be eftectually solved, and. with tho
completion of the Culebra cut, the mid
ole section of the canal tthe summit
leveD, VIII be created as soon as he
water from the Chagres can fill Lake
Bohio. This lake, stretching from Bo-
hlo to Pedro Miguel, will be TWENTY
two miles long. It's sides, east and
west, will be formed by natural hills.
while on the south it will be control
led by the Pedro Miguel locks. At no
point along the route to be followed by
ships in passing from ocean to ocean
VIII its depth be less than thirtv-tive
feet, so that vessels will have practi-
cally clear sailing over it's entire
+ length. The only place where serious
difficulty will be encountered in naVi-
CATION will be through the narrow
mountain defile of the Culebra cut.
In creating this lake the Americans
will accomplish their greatest work of
| rfvx1v IT,.
ishing the Bas Obispo- Paradise and Pa
raiso-Pedro Miguel levels, as projected
by the French entirely obviate the ne
cessity of constructing, at enormous
cost, the auxiliary, canal to tap the
Chagres river at Alhejuela, and of stor-
| age reservoirs to furnish water for
those levels through the dry season.
! Instead of those levels will be only
the one of Lake Bohio. into which the
natural and extraordinary currents of
the Chagres can discharge without re-
striction, to lose themselves through
the ease and spilways when they be-
come too great for the capacity of the
/ lake.
Another immense advantage secured
by the creation of this lake will be the
submersion of virtually all the fever
| breeding spots on the isthmian inter
| Tor between Colon and Panama, for
with the lake in existence the canal
will touch infectious country only on
the sea-level sections, in neither of
which it is expected ships will ever
| have to tarry.
The Locks of BObiO.
For these enormously valuable ad-
| vantages we pay an engineering Zee
| of only one minor problem. That
deals with the locks to be built in
the Bohio dam. AS presently planned
the level of Lake Bohio will be seven
| ty-five feet above the level of the
! Charges, or the sea, at the dam. This
| means that to pass from the sea level
section on the north to the surface
| of the lake, or vice versa, ships Will
have to be elevated or lowered seven
| ty-five feet. To accomplish this 1t Is
| proposed to have two sets of two locks
| each, so that vessels may simultane-
ously pass in either direction, the lift
in each single lock of each set being
371A feet.
The engineers of the United States
army who are stationed here say-and
1 accept their statements, for they
have made an intimate study of the
entire project-that locks have never
been constructed and successfully OPP
| Grated to lift vessels of the size OF
| those that will use the canal so great
| a distance. Whether we can DO what
| others have never before done in TINS
particular respect remains to be deter
| mined when our engineers actually
| tackle the project with a view to solV-
ing it's every phase along lines OF en-
| tire practicability. Should it be found,
| however. that locks to lift these ships
| thirtv-seven and one-half feet cannot
be successfully constructed, there Will
be an easy way out of the difficulty.
That will be by carrying the sum-
| NIT level of the CuiebTa cut, ana along
| the entire line of dry cutting, down
| little lower. 1t is not proposed to ex-
| cayate at Culebra until the lever snali
be fifty feet above sea level. This lever
may. if necessary, be carried out uhul
| the summit level will be not more than
thirty or thirtv-five feet above the sea,
| thereby reducing the size of the lift IN
| the locks from seVenty-five to htty-hVe
or sixty feet, and solving the lock
| nrohlen as it now confronts the engl-
| neerS.
The Great Cut nt Cuiebra.
The Culebra cut is by far the great
est undertaking on the entire route or
| the canal. It's immensely can only be
| appreciated when seen. Originally the
| summit of the depression in the Cor
| dilleras Mountains where the line OF
| the canal crosses was S6S 1eeI aoouI
| the sea. To bring this summit leVet
down to fifty feet according to present
plans, is the undertaking before the
Americans.
The French have already cut 1t down
to about 100 feet, so that it remains
for ms to excavate a further depres-
sion of 100 feet before we shall have
broken the isthmian backbone e ana
~1odo a nossihle for ships to sail from
ocean tn ocean over a distance of only
forty-seven miles. In their busiest
days the French worked thousands Sol OF
now a nlant of great magnitude, con-
sisting of hundreds of small locomo-
tives for hauling trains Of dumping
cars, of which there are thousaIlus,
construction railroads built on many
different levels on either side OF the
mountain which is to be cleft; steam
shovels, drills. loading apparatus; Lui-
ly equipped cable ways and all tine