The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-22
The Canal in Four Years


were submitted last March to Presiden
ROOSEVELT by Mr.. PHILIPPE BUNAU
vARILLA. To this eminent citizen o
France, as our readers we'll know, is du
in a very considerable degree the fina
choice of the Panama route for an Amer
lean canal, the acquisition at our Owl
appraised price of the franchises ant
property of the New Panama Canal Com
pany, and the diplomatic arrangements
resulting in the Hay Bunau-Varilli
treaty with the Republic OF Panama
under the provisions of which the actua
work of construction is proceeding.
In the form of communication tc
the French Academic DIES Sciences Mr.
BUNAU-VARILLA made, about ten days
ago, less detailed statement Of the
ideas which, in his opinion as disin-
terested friend of the American project
for the benefit of the worlds commerce
and as an engineer with great practical
experience of the conditions to be met
and the difficulties to be surmounted on
the 1sthmus, must govern tho policies
of canal construction. That paper, with
its clear exhibit of controlling considera-
tions and its striking promise Of COM
pletion within a much shorter time than
had been regarded as possible, and its
remarkable scheme for the subsequent
Transformation Of the lock canal into a
sea level passage, without hindrance to
traffic or waste of work already accom-
plished, has commanded the instant at
tention of scientific engineers as we'll as
Of the general public. The fuller pres
entation of these views in Mr.. BUNAU-
VARILLA letter to the President wherein
the various aspects of the problem are
discussed in their particulars, is assured
in advance of candid and careful study
by all officially concerned in the achieve
ment of the great enterprise.
As will be observed, the key to Mr..
BUNAC-VARILLA's plan for opening the
canal in four years to interoceanic navi-
CATION, with capacity five times greater
than the present traffic of the Suez Canal
is the reduction of the excavation still
necessary at the Culebra cut, the point
of greatest difficulty, by raising the
highest level Of the lock system to 100
feet above the oceans. The whole num-
her Of locks necessitated by this method
OF attacking the principal obstacle to
speedy and comparatively inexpensive
completion is only eight. the number
which was proposed and accepted as
satisfactory by commercial and en-
gineering opinion at the time when the
Nicaragua route was contemplated. Mr..
buNAU-VARILLA presents the reasons for
his belief that Culebra can be finished.
without strain or risk, within four years
and that every other part Of the work
in Simultaneous process, including the
Gamboa dam, the greatest of the auxil.
iary works and next to Culebra the most
exacting in point of time, will easily fall
within the period mentioned. Thus the
remaining job at the Culebra cut, i'm
mensely reduced by the 1870 foot level
plan both in the time and cost reouired
for its completion, will measure the
duration OF the work that must be done
before the first ship passes from the
Atlantic to the Pacific.
The second leading feature Of tho
letter to the President is the radical
and original method which Mr. BuSAu.
suggests for the elimination Of
level after level and lock after lock,
without interrupting traffic on the canal
or sacrificing the time and money ex-
pended for its excavation in it's first
form, until at last the sea LEVELS cached.
IN hve years more, II the bottom width
OF the ultimate sea level canal is to be
$50 feet, or in seven years II a bottom
width of 300 feet is desired. Thus, &C.
cording to the ideas presented, every
cubic yard Of excavation for the canal
in four years would count also
as cubic yard of excavation for a sea
evel waterway available for use in from
hire to eleven years from the present
lime, If it were deemed advisable TO
prosecute the work of transformation
continuously after the opening of the
irst canal to traffic. And whether the
,hange to sea level were undertaken
Immediately after the opening OF the
1rst canal or postponed for half a CEN
'ury, the commerce of the world would
70 accommodated during the period of
Enlargement to the full capacity of the
original channel; and the cost Of exca-
'ating would be practically no greater
nan II the United States Government
began to dig now with nothing but sea
evel passage in view. {
In making these very interesting SUE.
we are rIita ouso