Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1906-11-16

at Gatua-The Locks Are All TO R-
In DSpIi-ste.
The istAmiau canal comm ,slon l.
sued statement Recently lfun Wash
luztou describing the .a-rral plan Tor
the construction II the Fal--. 'auaL
1t j. explained that tie ts.,. u canal
proposed by the minority Of tie con
sultlug board i 70 form II summit level
about eiZAty-rive feet above tie level
Of the sea, which Is 70 be reached 10y .
igLt Ot locks built at Ga,uu. on the
Atlantic side by one lock at Pedro
Miguel and two Others at Ia BOA. on
the Pacific side. The locks are all 10
be In duplicate.
The summit level viii be formed by
the construction Of Il large dam at
Gatun and small one at Pedro Nj
guel \ second lake, with a surface
elevation Of rrty-hve feet. will be
formed on the Pacific side between
Pedro Miguel and Panama bay by the
construction Of a dam at Ia Boca,
across the mouth Of the Rio Grande
and another dam between SOca hill and
high ground near Corozal
From the Caribbean sea 10 the mouth
Of the Nindi river 4 channel IS TO b.
excayated having bottom width Of
~ feet aud depth OF forty i've feet
below mean tide. From the mouth II
the Mindi % the Gatun locks the width
and depth are TO be tie same a. from
the sea 70 the mouth Of the river
The Gatun locks are 70 be built in
duplicate The lift viii be overcome
by a flight Of three locks OF twenty
eight and One-thlrd feet or by two
locks of fovty.two and oue-halt feet
each The Gatun dam will reach from
point near the Garun hills, on which
the locks are 10 be located. 10 the hill
$500 feet westward. in which the spill
way VIII lie bHilt. The object Of this
dam i 10 form 4 reservoir 10 which
the Goods of the Chagres will be re
ceived Its area Will be approximate
IL 1IU square miles Works ror rexI-
latug the level Of the lake will be- sit
uatel I'm the hills that lie midway be
tween two extremes OF the dam. They
will consist u system Of gates CON
structed on foundations of concrete
The gates will be almost couuterparts
of those used on the Chicago drainage
canal
From the Gatun locks 20 San Pablo,
a distance OF about fifteen miles. only
Il small amount Of excavation will be
required. The width of the canal will
be about 1900 feet and the depth for
ty-dve feet Tie growth for fifty feet
along the shores is TO be removed
Farther up the lake, as the amount Of
excavation necessary to obtain a depth
OF forty-fve feet increases. the width
Of the channel will be decreased. first
to $50 feet, then to 500. then TO 800
from Obispo to Las Caspades. dis
tanee OF about one and half miles,
where the CuIebra cut begins.
Tie channel from Matachin 10 Bas
Obispo may be narrowed 10 100 feet.
From Las Cascades TO Para!so. a dis
lance Of IL miles, the width OF the
channel will be 200 feet. This Is the
most difficult work of the whole canal
/ construction. From Paraiso, the end
Of CuIebra cut TO the Pedro Miguel
lock. a distance less than two miles.
the channel will he 800 feet wide. The
Pedro Miguel lock will have lift OF
thirty feet and will lie In duplicate,
with approach walls at each end From
the lock for a distance Of lS1 miles
the channel will be 500 feet wide aud
will then be Increased to 1000 feet for
q distance OF 3.61 miles 70 Sosa hill on
the shore Of Panama bay. where the
SoSa locks will be built. These locks
twenty and one-halt feet each,
and will he In duplicate.
dam will be constructed across the
Rio Grande from san Juan hill 10 Sosa
hill. another from SOsa hill to Corozal
hill and 4 small dam from Corozal hill
to the high ground eastward. These
dams will form lake known as Sosa
lake. IL will have an area OF eight
square miles and will be provided with
regulation works for discharging the
surplus water.
From the Sosa locks 10 the deep wa.
ter In Panama bay, distance of -four
miles. the channel is TO have bottom
width of 500 feet and a depth Of fifty
feet below mean tide. The mean rise
and f.ll of the tide Is about fifteen feet
The Panama railroad will be relocat
ed throughout almost the entire dis
lance from the mouth Of the Mindi river
TO Panama. and some heavy embank
ments will he required to cross certain
parts of Gatun lake.