Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-11-07
NIRAfLoRes ses - wsss
LOCKS

prupustu Dotrom OF the canal was about
l20 feet. the highest point on the cen
RAILROAD required millions Of yards IN
making ILLS. and the breakwater at
i;iiiiDOu also took considerable
amount. What could not be usefully
employed was wasted on dumps. The
average haul from the cut has been
twelve miles. but us much US thirty
miles was Travelled by some Of the dirt
trains Twenty Hat cars constituted a
train. and one car could be loaded BY
a shovel In two and half minutes, Or
with seven scoopfuls Of earth and rock.
When the trains got to the dumps an
unloading plOw was drawn by steel
cable over the Hat ours. sweeping the
material off the side which was open.
Then spreiders were pushed over the
track to shove the material to one side
and down the einbankment. Track
shifterS later came along and moved
the track over to the edge Of the ill.
Between 1.OtN,O0O and 100000 yards
went out of the Culebra cut every
month since December, 1907.
the various towns to their work In the
cut or on the locks and dams by labor
trains. These trains took them to their
homes or the hotels for the noon meal,
consuming from ten minutes to half
an hour in the journey. But as the
rest period ut noon was for two hours
in the canal zone ample time for eat
ing was allowed. .s
In the month Of March. 1900. more
dirt was taken out than In the first
twenty-five months of operations. The
excavation In one month usually ex
ceeded an amount equal to the pyra.
mid of CheOps. which Is 75O feet
square and 45l feet high. The canal
force of 1909. 1910 and 1911 would
have dug and finished the Suez canal.
March. 1911. retains the record for the
greatest excavation In the cut. when
1.72S.7 4S yards were removed. and this
also Is the record month for excava-
ton for the whole canal. with total
removal of 1927 .443 yards. The aver
age daily output Of steam shOvels rose
from 900 yards in 1905. when only dirt
was handled. to 1900 yards in 1911,
when rock predominated. The cost in
the central division has ranged from
10 cents yard to 81 cents a yard.
with an average of 81 cents. from 1904
to 1909 and fell to 81 cents in 1912.
Rains interferred with the excava
ton work In the cut. reducing the out.
put In the rainy season several hundred
lfIt nd Wdo 1nA
dowul,ours operations were suspended.
but the cut was dug at slant on both
sides Of the mountain system, so that
water was drained out Of 1t by gravity.
running out at both ends. Rivers
which crossed the line Of the canal
were diverted by digging new chan.
nels for them.
Almost at the windup Of operation.
the canal diggers made the highest rec.
ords for excavation. On April II, 1912.
fOrty.four steam shovels took out O..
sos yards in the cut. which Is the rec.
ord fW one day in that division.
Steam shovel No. 257 working ut On.
tun took out 5.5A yards in one day.
the highest record in the canal zone
for one shovel. the date being May 2.
1912. and in August. 1912. the same
shovel made record by removing &c.
644 yards in twenty-six working days.
That part Of the central division
which is little mentioned extends from
the Gatun locks tn the entrance of the
Culebra cut. about twenty-three miles
Only about l2.4OOOO0 yards had to b.
excavated to complete this channel. rs
1t follows the Chagres river valley
from about sea level to Bohio; then
the level rises until 1t reaches forty
eight feet above SEA level ut tte cut
From Gatun to ObisIIO the Chngres
crossed the line Of the canal twenty
three times. In the same distance the
Chagres river has twenty-six tr1buta
ries. the more important ones being the
Gatun and Trinidad rivers. All con
tribute to the great, Iatun lake.
The slides. which have been accu.
rately and inaccurately exploited III
the press. represented the steep sides
Of the Culebra cut breaking or and
falling down into the excavated part.
Even where the cut has been sunk
through solid rock these slides occur
red. as the rock formations of the
isthmus nre brittle and dissolve to dust
after exposure to the atmosphere. An
attempt was made to prevent slides by
clustering the sides Of the cut with
concrete. but the experiments were
futile. There We're between fifteen
and twenty important slides Oh both
sides of the nine mile cut. the largest
being on the west side Of the canal
near the town Of Culebra and embrac-
ing siXty-three acres. Around the
towns of Culebra and Empire were
many smaller slides that gave much
trouble to the engineers. Steam shov-
els. locomotives and fat cars have been
caught In these slides. but. singularly.
few lives have been lost.
Sometimes the pressure on the sides
of the canal operated tn make the earth
bulge M, IN the bottom Of the cut III.
vision Engineer GailIard devised the
plan Of terracing the sides Of the cut
Ito relieve this pressure. with the result
that mMh extruneOus material has
been prevented from sliding into the
cut. Engineers who formerly stood
stanchly for the sen level type Of ca
nal after seeing the slides Of the pres
ent eIghty-fve foot level lock type
We're forced to admit that the attempt
to sink cut through the isthnnls for
a sen level channel would lie attended
by such prodigious earth movements.
nxrssitating such an inestimable ad-
ditiunal excavation. Ms to make 1t we'll
nigh impossible. For u sea level anal
the Cnlebra cut would have to &"