The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-04-02

black earth at the rate o.
OF tons every day into the core.
Will 1t Hold the Water:
AS we looked | talked with toIonei
Sibert about the dam. ana ne gave
me a description from
which am convinced it Will hold
back the waters OF the ChagreS tor
all time to come. He say that the
earth in the core is the same as lHdt
which forms the bottom Of the lake.
The engineers made drllllnss, slt
they found that there was 20 1eet
Of such material above the BED rock
and that a concrete dam was lHlpoS-
sibie. They then tested the eartn 70
see whether it would hold water. ana
it did. They analyzed it and found
that much of it contained blue clay,
and they have discovered that some
Of il was formed by the silt from the
Chagres. and other parts by the sea-
which once came up here IN 1ne
form Of a great bay. AS an evidence
of his | saw sea shells dug up by
the steam shovel below the locks dur
ing my trip this morning.
The blu clay which forms a part
Of this earth is absolutely water
proof. In one place the engineers
found the trunk Of a tree imbedded
in it. The log was fifty-six feet be
low sea level. but it was not IN the
least affected or decomposed. 1t had
evidently ain there for thousands and
possibly millions Of years. and had
the water gotten to it it would have
rotted away.
When the dam is completed The
central portion of it. or core. will be
made Of earth containing material
like this. and the parts in front II
behind this will be~of the e~xcaVated
spoil. filed with the other material
made u Of. the silt from the Chag-
res.
This dam material has. as l have
said. been tested. and there is no
doubt but that it will hold the water,
although a great construction could
not be erected upon it. 1t Is only
owing to the rocky hill in the center
OF the dam that the spillway could
be created. The concrete Of the spill
way is founded on rock, and it looks
as though the Lord. when He created
this part Of the earth. dropped that
rocky hill here in order that mar
might be able to create a water high
way from ocean to ocean.
The Problem One of Construction.
AS we went over this vast work,
~sduinting our yes to keep out the
flying sand from the myriadS Of SpOi
trains which flew by us. / asked Col
Onel Sibert if the dam was not the
most wonderful eve created. He re-
> piled that it was he largest dam evel
planned. out hat the problem OF
making it vas one of construction
rather tina Of engineering. 1t was &
question Of accomplishing a vast
> amount Of WOrk within a short tim.
8 rather than m of difficult engineer
8 ing. The principal problem dealt with
the handling OF the material, but il
1 other ways the construction was ne
more difficult than that Of any com
. plicated piece Of big engineering, ant
not as difficult as some.
I here asked Colonel Sibert whe1
8 the dam would be finished, and as tt
just when the canal would be reall.
n opened. He replied:
LAS to the canal. the President ha
told the people that it will be opene,
e on July 81, 1913. That may be sc
t l certainly Know that it will be SO a
to this part Of the work. locks, dan
and all"
5 And Just here I want to say a wor,
about Colonel Sibert. He is one o
the best equipped civil and mechan
y zeal engineers Of his time, and he ha
made a reputation as an hydrauli
t.. engineer for his work here at Gatur
He has had charge of what is know
d as the Atlantic division. including tn
~impounding Of the waters Of tn
~ NIdEleS anu lHe CONSTRUCTION OF tn
a canal from here to the sea. COlOne
kSibert is a graduate of West Poin'
Re and he began his engineering caree
re at the time he left the academy. Fl
q made some reputation in %cOnnectiO
l. with the great locks at the 500, whic
a he aided in building. and also in tn
n rebuilding Of the railroad in centrf
a luzon at the close Of our war wit
i. the Spaniards. After tina he ha
charge of the constru elton Of the da,
NJ on the Ohio at Pittsburgh, and Of til
4 other river improvements there.
q Is now over five years since he cam
is TO Panama He is a man who shout
IN know whereof he speaks, and his re
Il mark that this part Of the canal wi
De competed on time indicates tn:
It IS n Of the sure things Of tn
W future.
Through the Locks on a Role