Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-11-07
PANAMA CANAL PLAYS
Greatest Width 1000 Feet and
 the Depth 4S Feet.
SUMMIT LEVEL ABOUT s5 FEET

SUMMIT LEVEL ABOUT 86 FEET
 This h to Be Reached by Flight 1T
 Locks on Atlantic Side, One Lock
 at Pedro Miguel and Two Others on
 Paciac side-Large Dam to Be Built
 at Gatun-Thc Locks Arc All to De
 In Duplicate.
 The isthmian canal commission is-
 sued statement recently from Wash
 ington describing the general plan for the construction of the Panama canal.
 It is explained that the type of canal proposed by the minority of the con- l sulting board is to form summit level about eighty-five feet above the level of the sea, which is to be reached by flight of locks built at Gatun, on tho Atlantic side, by one lock at Pedro ] Miguel and two others at La Boca. on the Pacific side. The locks are all to be in duplicate.
 The summit level will be formed by 1 the construction of large dam at Gatun and a small one at Pedro MI. guel. A second lake, with Q surface elevation of ffty-fve feet, will be 1 formed on the Pacific side between Pedro Miguel and Panama bay by the | nf doy1 al RNNa across the mouth of the Rio Grands. and another dam between Soca hill and high ground near Corozal.
 From the Caribbean sea to the mouth of the Mindi river a channel is to be excavated having bottom width of 300 feet and depth of forty five feet below mean tide From the mouth of the Mindi to the Gatun locks the width and depth are to be the same as from the sea to the mouth of the river.
 The Gatun locks are to be built in duplicate The lift will be overcome by flight of three locks of twenty eight and one-third feet or by two locks of forty-two and one-half feet each. The Gatun dam will reach from point near the Gatun hills, on which the locks are to be located, to the hill, $500 feet westward, in which the spill way will be built. The object of this dam is to form a reservoir in which the floods of the Chagres will be re- ceived. Its area will be approxlmats- ly no square miles. Works for regu- lating the level of the lake will be slt- uated in the hills that He midway be- tween two extremes of the dam. They will consist of system of gates con- structed on foundations of concrete. The gates will be almost counterparts of those used on the Chicago drainage canal.
 From the Gatun locks to San Pablo, distance of about fifteen miles, only small amount of excavation will be required. The width of the canal will be about 1000 feet and the depth for ty-fve feet. The growth for fifty feet along the shores is to be removed. Farther up the lake, as the amount of excavation necessary to obtain depth of forty-five feet increases, the width of the channel will be decreased, first to 800 feet, then to 800, then to 300 from 0bispo to Las Caspades. a dis tance of about one and Q half miles, where the Culebra cut begins.
 The channel from Matachin to Bas Obispo may be narrowed to 100 feet. From, Toa Coccodoo tr Da ro ;a, . .1t~ tance of Az 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 Culebra cut to the Pedro Miguel lock. a distance less than two miles, the channel will be 300 feet wide. The Pedro Miguel lock will have . lift of thirty feet and will be In duplicate, with approach walls at each end. From the lock for a distance of 1.s7 miles the channel will be 600 feet wide and will then be increased to 1000 feet for . distance of 3.61 miles to Sosa hill cn the shore of Panama bay. where the Sosa locks will be built. These lockD will be in two nights, with lifts of twentyseven and one-half feet each. and will he in duplicate.
 A dam will be constructed across the Rio Grande from San Juan hill to eooa hill. another from sosa hill to Corosal hill and a small dam from Corcsal hill 10 the high ground eastward. These dams will form . lake known as Sea lake. It will have an area of eight square miles and will be provided with regulation works for dIscharging tho surplus water.
 From the Sosa locks to the deep wa- ter in Panama bay. q 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 fall of the tide Is about fifteen feet.
 The Panama railroad will be reIocat- cd throughout almost the entire dis- tance from the mouth of the MlDdi river 10 Panama. and some heavy embank- ments will be required to cross certain parts of Gatun lake.