The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1906-04-03
DELAY IN CONSTRUCTING
The PANAMA CANAL
New Orleans P4Cayl111e.

cause reports have been Industrious
IL propagated that a lock canal will
be vastly cheaper, that ships can &c
lifted over the mountain faster than
they can steam through an open cut
and that the lock canal can be con,
structed in greatly shorter time thar
could be an open cutting, and that Il
at any time 1t should be desired &c
have a sea-level. route, it would DC
a mere bagatelle TO transform the
lock system into any shape that
might be desired
Upon the basis of such confident
statements. which arc founded large
/ " on hypothesis or guesswOrk, it is
not strange that the president and
the House of Representatives are
carried away with a preference fol
lock. canal. while it is said the
senate favOrs an open sea-level cut
ting. Such radical differences in al
probability will result in preventing
any early decision as To the type OF
the canal, and of course in postpon
! ing any decisive work.
In the meantime some of the
ablest engineers on both sides of the
Atlantic recognize in the proposed
lock canal some problems Of extreme
difficulty, for the solution of which
there are no reliable data. In order
I 10 have a lock canal it is necessary
to have at the summit of the route
an artificial lake to supply water fol
J the six locks, three on each side 81
the ridge. necessary to raise and
lower ships.
In order to create the required
summit lake. where there is now
nothing of the sort. il is necessary
/ to build a dam which will impOund
at height of from 80 to 100 feei
above sea level, the waters of the
Chagres river, a stream which is sub
ject to numerous tremendous floods
by reason of the tropical rains
which prevail in the Canal Belt The
difficulty of securing suficlen;
foundation and solidity is regarded
as extreme, whereas in the event OF
a sea-level canal the ChagTes river
would be carried to the sea by some
other route than the one it now fol
lows and all danger from its floods
would be obviated.
In the matter Of the locks, which
would be vast chambers of masonry,
each 1000 feet long and proportion
ately wide. standing like enormous
steps one above and beyond the
other, each Of the three required on
each SIDE of the ridge would have to
contain water sufficient to float the
largest ships certainly to a depth in
each of not less than thirty-fve ieet
Three suck locks would raise ship
to a height of los feet, sufficient to
float it over the ridge, while three
others like them would lower 'he
vessels to the sea on the other side
These locks, whose foundations
would have to go down to bedrock
would constitute the vastess masses
of masonry every constructed, with
the exception of the Egyptian Pyra-
mids. In all probability the stone
for their construction would have to
be qUarried and cut in MaSsachu-
sets or Maine. and transported 10
the Isthmus. That Of itself would be
a colossal work, requiring the utmost
care and accuracy Of arrangement
ana construction, while an open cut
would only be a matter of digging
and removal Of material, which,
while immense in volume, would In
yOlve no special care or difficulty.
However all this may be, it
seems obvious that discussion will
accomplish nothing but delay. If
there IS ever to be any canal. all
who are responsible for it will have
tc stop talking and get to work.