Los Angeles herald., 1909-02-18
u. S. ENGINEERS
DECLARE CANAL
GREAT SUCCESS
ROOSEVELT SUBMITS REPORT
ON PANAMA
LOCK TYPE is PROVED TO BE
MOST DESIRABLE
Gatun Dam Unnecessarily High and
Strong, and Experts Recom-
mend 1t Be Lowered
Twenty Feet
by Associated Press. ]

AT ASHINGTON, Feb. 17.-Any at
w tack made hereafter on the lock
| type of the Panama canal, ac-
cording to the opinion expressed by
President Roosevelt in message
transmitting to congress today the re-
port made by the engineers who re-
Gently visited the canal zone with
President-elect Taft, sis in reality
merely an attack upon the policy of
building any canal at all"
| The report, in Mr.. Roosevelts opin-
ion, shows in clearest fashion that the
congress was wise in the position it
| took and that it would be inexcusable
folly to change from the proposed lock
canal to sea level canal.
| Il commend to yOu," he says to con-
| gress, the most careful consideration
of the report. They show that the only
criticism that can be made of the work
on the isthmus is that there has some
times been an almost excess of caution
in providing against possible trouble
'As to the Gatun dam itself they
show that not only is the dam safe,
but that on the whole the plan already
adopted would make it unnecessarily
high and strong and accordingly they
recommend that the height be reduced
by 20 feet, which change in the plans
1 nave accordingly directed"
! All Qualified to Judge
President Roosevelt says the engin-
GERS who made the report "are of all
the men in their profession within or
without the United States the men who
are on the whole best qualified to pass
i upon these very questions which they
examined"
/ The engineers report that as the
Gatun earth dam was the central point
of discussion they gave it under in
structions from Mr.. Taft, first con-
sideration in the light of all new evil
dence" and they add that ''the type of
! dam now under consideration is one
which meets with our unanimous ap-
! proval."
They say they are satisfied that
there will be no dangerous or objec-
tionable seepage through the materials
! under the base of the dam; nor are they
so soft as to be liable to be pushed
i aside by the weight of the proposed
dam so as to cause dangerous settle
ment.
1--WE are also satisfied that the ma
terials available and which it is pro-
posed to use are reliable and readily
can be placed to form tight, stable
and permanent DAM"
Everything Feasible
Dams and locks, lock gates and all
| other engineering structures involved
in the lock canal project are feasible
and safe" according to the engineers,
land they can be depended upon to per
form with certainty their respective
functions"
They report they "do not find any
occasion for changing the type of the
canal that has been adopted. A change
to sea level plan at the present time
would add greatly to the cost and time
of construction, without cOmpenSatlng
advantages, either in capacity of the
canal or safety of navigation, and
hence would be a public misfortune.
1--WE do find" they say, ''in the de-
tailed designs that have been adopted,
or that are under consideration, some
matters where other arrangements
than those now considered worthy Of
study. AS thest proposed conditionse
are of a tentative nature and do not
in any case affect the main questions
herein discussed they are not taken up
in this report"
They declare that the most practical
question in the construction of the
Gatun dam is the possible slipping or
sliding of the materials underneath and
in the body Of the dam"
Exceedingly Cautious
In regard to this question they have
reached the conclusion "the design up
on which the work is now being prose-
cuted abundantly fulfills the required
degree of stability and goes far beyond
the limits of what would be regarded as
sufficient and safe in any less important
structure"
+ In regard to the slips which have oc-
Cured several times, they assert that
| they are "Of no serious consequence,
either in the practical execution Of the
work or in the ultimate stability of the
structure"
Having considered the proper height
for the crest of the Gatum dam, they
conclude that cit could be safely re-
duced twenty feet from that originally
proposed, namely to an elevation Of lis
feet above sea level, or thirty feet
above the normal level of the water
against the dam
This change, they say, will facilitate
the work of construction, and will re-
duce somewhat the cost of the proposed
work"
AS to the change of the lower locks
on the Pacific end of the canal, from
La Boca, on the shore of Panama bay,
to Mirafiores. about four miles inland,
they report that the settlements which
occurred as a result of the change
"cause no reason to doubt the stability
of the proposed DAM"
i Increase Only $10,oo0,ooo
This change having been made be-
cause objection might be made from
a military point of view to placing
locks on the shore of the bay, exposed
to gunsiof hostile ships the board of
engineers estimate that it will increase
the cost by about $1O,0OOO0O, but that
it will greatly lessen the cost of for
tification.
Another change, that of increasing
the minimum width of the bottom Of
the canal for about At miles in the
Culebra cut they estimate will in
crease the cost Of the work by about
$13, ,00O 900, but they say it will not de-
lay the completion of the canal, that
it will permit ships to pass one another
in this portion of the canal and will
otherwise facilitate navigation
eff slides occur after the completion
of the canal" they say, "the wider ca
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