The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1907-04-27

nately, there Is foundation Of coral.
which allows the concrete, reinforced
with steel, to be firmly moored with
steel supports. No roadway In the
world, anywhere, experts say, will be
safer than this, and none more beau
tiful as 1t lies cleaning white in the
tropical sun. In few places. where
the foundation is sand, piling is used
to afford a foundation. Every here
and there dredges are actively pump
ing up sand from deep water. convey
ing it through pipes and depositing it
in shallow water to help in the con-
struction Of the line. Elsewhere are
to be found dredges which eat their
way over the fiat land. leaving a shall
low canal on either side of the road
bed which they throw up.
The pioneers Of "the railroad that
Is going to sea" are at this writing
pushing their way across the keys.
many Of which are barren and unten-
anted, though few are inhabited by
fishermen and wreckers, some Of
them living in queer, picturesque
houses built on stills. AS the narrow
passages of water between the is
lands are crossed the construction
crews find themselves often amidst
the fleet OF sponge fishers from Key
West, who lift their valuable cargoes
from the shoals about these islands.
Building railway line across such
q NJ OF ck~ af
open water naturally presents practi-
cal problems in the housing of men.
After the negro laborers have cleared
out dense tropical jungle on the un-
inhabited islands, the construction
crews of white men of various nation
alities arrive. On the land they live
in temporary wooden houses, or in
some cases in we'll arranged tents.
Fourteen camps have been establish
ed, each a favorable location on firm
ground. The water for drinking and
cooking has to be transported from
Miami; the food is as well cooked and
varied as is possible so far from urban
markets. A hospital tent enables the
physicians properly to treat any case
of illness. The men in every way are
made comfortable. Even an impro-
vised barber shop gives facilities for
shaving and hair cutting at surpris-
ingly low rates. The men who do the
work on the water live in floating dor
mitories, two stories high, neat and
commodious, which are anchored
somewhere near the great floating
dredges. Some of the men labor con-
stantly in water and naturally receive
higher wages than the others.
Enormous Undertaking.
The details of the engineering task
give no conception of the enormity of
the undertaking. From Homestead
to Key West the line will consist of
seventy-four land miles, while TWEEN
ty-five miles are built over swamp and
nearly thirty over water. Ten bridges
are called for and several miles of
steel span work and concrete arch.
Four long viaducts will have an ag-
gregate length of nearly six miles.
From Long Key to Conch Key it is
10,4O0 feet, across knights Key chan
mel 1900 feet, over Moser Key chan
mel $500 feet, while Bahia Honda
channel has a width of. 1880 feet.
These viaducts will consist of serieA
of reinforced concrete, circular arch
spans and piers, bringing the base of
the rails somewhat more than thirty
feet above the mean low water level,
and insuring that the passing trains
will always be above the spray of the
dashing waves below. The greatest
of these viaducts will be the longest
marine bridge in existence. 1t has
about double the length of Brooklyn
bridge.
This extension of the Florida East
Coast railroad is being made with
view to haying ultimately double
track all the way. BY means of num-
erous sidings the line will have almost
the efficiency of a double track road
from the start. Most of the sidings
are to be located on the keys. Modern
safety devices will be installed
throughout.