Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-02-14
h .REAKING every great engineer
ing record of the worlds his
\ tory and SURPRISING its own
most sanguine expectations.

lIo COuSIIuCLAOu were QIcpdI leu, IL "dS
estimated that nine years would be
required to. remove the. 103.000,O00
cubic. yards of material it was then
proposed to excavate. Since that time
one difficulty. and another has arisen
and has forced up, notch by notch, the
total amount of material to be remov-
ed. until today it is estimated that
the entire task will represent the ex-
cavation of 195,O00.000 cubic yards.
Slides in Culebra cut have been re-
sponsible for part of this increase.
while the widening of that part of the
big ditch by one-half has added much
more. Then the ocean currents in the
Pacific and the work of the Chagres
river on the Atlantic side have de-
posted large quantities of silt in the
line Of the canal and all of this must
be removed, writes Frederick J. Has
kin in the Indianapolis News. :
Yet in spite Of this tremendous in
crease in the amount of material to be
removed, the last shovelful will come
out in little more than six years
after the work began in earnest. Thus
it will be seen that while the amount
of work to be done has increased by
more than seven-eighths. the time in
which it was estimated it could be
done has been cut down by approx
mately one-third. Furthermore, SO
magniflcently has the canal army re-
sponded to the demands OF its leader
for efficiency that the. vast amount of
additional work is being done with
money saved by economical operations
on the. work originally planned. When
one stops to consider that all of this
additional work is being done on saw
ings effected elsewhere, and that it
has not added one penny to the orig
inal estimates of cost, the marvellous
results of the efficiency campaign on
the isthmus become apparent.
Culebra cut always has been the
backbone Of the canal problem. Once
it was thought Gatun dam would be
the most knotty feature of the work.
but this great dam has proved so
much less of problem than was an.
ticipated that the canal officials long
ago ceased to worry about it. They
felt, four years ago, when they were
beginning to plan the foundations Of
this great structure, that there would
be many difficulties to overcome, and
yet they were prepared to meet them.
The actual work has not been nearly
SO difficult of accomplishment as they
had expected, very much to, the dis
comflture OF those people who insisted
that the dam could never be built.
On the other hand, Coulebra cut has
proved to be a much greater task
than was anticipated. When Presi.
dent Roosevelt ordered that its bot
tom width should be increased from
200 to 800 feet, he added consider.
able element to the difficulties Of the
problem. The great masses of ma
ter1al that have been sliding into the
canal from the adjacent banks, one
slide alone having a surface area Of
Al acres, have added immensely to
the seriousness Of the problem at
Culebra, and yet. one by one. these
difficulties and obstacles have been
overcome. 80 that there now remains
to be removed less than 100000
cubic yards out Of total of more
than Ss,000.000. SO rapidly has tho
work progressed that it is expected
chat within four months the big cut
practically will be completed. except
the three miles through the heart Of
Culebra mountain. There VIII; remain
on that date. in that :hree.mile
stretch, 100000 cubic yards Of ma
terial. It is expected that 30 steam
shovels can be operated advantage
ously IN this contracted area, as
against ~ now in operation. Assum-
ing that the 80 can do as we'll In pro.
portion as the AZ now are doing, the
last shovelful of dirt will come out in
less than 10 months from the present
date.
The. canal authorities always are
prepared for any emergency that may
arise They take nothing for granted.
and accept no risks. Every step must
be proved as well as human instru-
mentalities may prove it before 1t is
taken. They prepare for every i'm
aginable contingency. Recently they
had a government geologist from
Washington make an battle-ground
Study of the geological formations of
the Culebra region. and they are as
sured from these Investigations that
they have made all necessary allow
ances for further possible slides. Yet
they are preparing to meet any new
ones which may develop. Should there
be any additional slides after June l.
1913, the canal authorities will meet
them by moving the great dredges Of
the Pacific division. into the cut and
dredging out the incoming material
at the rate Of millions Of yards q
month. By that time the locks and
dams Of the canal will have been com
pletsd and the water can ps turned
Int cslsbr. cut But til = : 90
=