The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-09-03

COnSfTOtIlOu VI tiiC -
hut the method Of operating the gates
and other machinery. MS HiooI
is only six feet, four inches long II
eight and One-half feet IN "1oln.
looks exactly like a lock IN niniattlS
Win the gates at the end. Inc eates
ara narfect limitations, having pms
for every rivet and in all about 1lo.-
600 nins on the sheet copper Wnlch
covers them. They are operdteu y
a one fifteenth horse power Ilo!of'
and are equipped with such ueVlGIS
that the operation IS autoHiitIca
great locks here at MlranoleS anu
else
How the Ships Go Through.
The vessels are not allowed to
move from one lock to another pS
steam. They are tOWed by eiectflc
locomotives, and there are a umoe
of protective devices to see tnat thes
do not injure the locks or themselves
on their way through.
There are four towing locomotives.
which run upon tracks on a size
of the lock. Two Of them are 1asten-
ed to the front of a vessel, moving
it onward, and the other two are on
the tracks at the rear nololng it
back so that it can go only SO fast.
The rate fixed is to be two miles an
hour and the locomotives will prevent
it being more or less thai this.
These locomotives will run on a level
excepting where they pass from n
| lock to another, where they will CLIMB
| I'D or down heavy grades. Between the
lower and intermediate locks, at
Gatun, for example, circumference in
elevation is over tWenty-nine~feet.
There are to be two systems Of
tracks, one for towing and the other
for the return Of the mott
when not towing. The towing tracks
mill hoI-n a nantar rack ana the loco
motives will always operate on this
rack. Or the return track there will
be also a rack or the incline between
the locks, but elsewhere the ears will
run b. friction.
The motive power for running these
locomotives will be electricity, gener-
ated by the ~spilway Of the GaIum
dam. This, it is believed, will fur
nish enough electricity not only for
all the machinery of the canal, but
possibly enough to run the rains OF
the Panama railroad.
Chains to Hold the Ships Back.
In addition to the locomotives, the
locks have other means Of keeping
the steamers from striking the gates
or going too fast. Among these are
claims which run across the lock
chambers ron one side 10 the other.
These chains are 50 powerful that
they could stop a ten-thousand-ton
vessel going al the rate OF four miles
an hour within a distance Of sixty
feet, without iniuring either the ship
or the chain. The chains run across
from lock wall to lock wall, and from
the approaches passing down into
holes in the walls in such a way that
they play out gradually when struck
by the vessels, retarding them and
bringing them to a stop. The chains
are also SO arranged that they car
be lowered and dropped down into
groove in the bottom Of the lock door
so that the vessel steams out over
their tops.
These chains are enormous Eacf
link will be ova in shape. Its lOngeS
diameter will be as big as the larges'
dinner plate and the steel Of the linl
will be about as thick as your wrist
In addition the gates will be double
!, the upper gate acting as a protection
to the lower, so that both would havt
to break before any damage coult
, come to the lock.
In addition to all this there are t.
of each set Of locks which will VOL
something like a d%rawbridge ane
thus protect the locks.
The Water for the Canal.
t One of the live questions in connec
, ton with the locks is whether tn
8 Chagres river a furnish enough
water to keep them full, and still &C
- OLA SA1O LkA\ VII
pass through the canal. The engi
neers say that it can. The Gatul
lake is now filling, and when tn
canal is completed we will nave 16
8 square miles of water held back b
9 the dam, and his in addition to tn
. regular flow of the Chagres. w
shall also have something like tw
square miles Of water in the Mira
flores lake.
Engineer Rousseau says thai tn
water supply will amount to NOR
O tnan S0,0OO,OOO tons per annum, an
Colonel Goethals says that there Wi
be plenty to accommodate ffty-eigh
y vessels a day, going through tn
canal, and that this would be NOR
- than could pass through in the spac
OF tWenty-four hours. 1t is doubtfu
" whether such a traffic will ever arise
, Even forty vessels a day on the az
erase for 500 days Of the year woul
mean 1000 vessels. and this is ahor