The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-27
Construction of New Panama Railroad

The completion of the canal will ne- cessitate the abandonment of the pres ent main line of the Panama railroad, and preliminary surveys for location of a new line on the east side of the canal were commenced the latter part of July and completed in November. The location or the line was practically determined in March, and involves the excavation or l. coo cubic yards of material and the placing of 100000 cubic yards in em- bankments.
 The main line at Gatun now passes over a portion of the site that must be occupied by the dam, and in order not to delay work on this structure 1t be- came necessary to commence so much Of the new line around Gatun as would en- able the abandonment of the existing line and permit construction of the dam upon this portion of the site. With this in view operations were begun in the vicinity of Mindi and at Gatun on the new location in May. It was also con sidered advisable to open up from the present main line diversion tracks to the fills that have to be made so as to utilize material removed from the Culebra and Charges divisions
 Contract Versus Hired Labor.
 Under date of October g, 1906, sealed pro posals were invited for the complete con struction of the canal in accordance with the approved plans, bids to be opened on January 12 1907 As none of the bids re- ceived appeared to be entirely satisfac- tory, they were rejected, and the work was continued in the same manner as 1t was progressing at the time that the inVl- tation was issued
 There is no question that in the majority of cases in the United States work Is con- tracted because it can be done cheaper by that method than any other This generally due to the fact that the con tractor has on hand a construction plant which can be more cheaply hired than purchased anew. Where, in any particu- lar case, either from the nature of the work or it's location, the contractor must purchase machinery and appliances which, so far as he can foresee will be practically useless on the completion or the work or where the party having the work done can make use of the plant sub sequent to it's completion. the advantages of the contract system disappear
 The Panama canal presents a piece or work unprecedented in magnitude, which
 1t be done under conditions entirely
 erent from similar classes of work In
 United States The work naturally
 ides itself into dredging, dry excava-
 n, the construction of the locks and
 ms, and the construction of the new
 Anama railroad There IS no contrdctoI
 syndicate of contractors that by any ombination could bring to the isthmus n organization ready for team work on thy of these units While 1t is possible Tor several contractors to combine forces, assuming that a sufficient number of men can be gotten together in that way, there still remains the necessity for whipping this force into shape in order to secure an organization that will produce the team work so advantageous in the accom- plishment of results.
 The Panama canal work is naturally dl- vided into
 Q) Excavation in the dry by steam shovels, including all of the Culebra di- vision and part of the Chagres division. The construction of drainage and diver s,on channels would come under this heading.
 t2) Excavation by dredges on the Colon and La Boca divisions and on part of the Chagras division.
 (3) The construction of the dams.
 (D The construction of the new Pana- ma railroad.
 (O The construction of the terminal fla cilities, harbor basins, and breakwaters, if any.
 (6) The construction of locks, gates, and splllways.
 Labor Supplv-The skilled '7'